Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Hey!!! You!!! The strange kid with a hat!!! My name… is Tutorial Kid.”

“I'm not strange. You're strange.” You squint at the letters stitched onto their collar. “Your shirt says Ag-a-the. If you Changed your name, you might wanna change your clothes too. That’s kinda confusing.”

Nille had stitched your name into your clothes just like that, when you were little. She wouldn't stop labeling your clothes until you proved that you could go a whole month without losing any of your stuff. (You had, in fact, misplaced your socks at the beach three weeks into the bet… But you borrowed a pair from a neighbor’s clothesline before going home. She didn't even notice the difference, so you won your freedom.)

(.......Did you ever return those socks?)

With the ease of a child who doesn’t understand Stranger Danger at all, they reply, “Ha ha ha! You have guessed my other name! As expected from one of the Saviors... You're sharp. Let me guess… are you… SCISSORS TYPE?” They make a dramatic motion, kind of like Frin does when he draws his knife. It’s way cooler when Frin does it, but you can’t judge them for trying. You’ve attempted to imitate Frin’s style loads of times. Just not while anybody else was watching.

“No. Also, nobody laughs by saying ‘ha ha ha’ like that.” Actually, Za did say ‘ha ha ha’ sometimes, but he was also weird. Frowning at the kid, you cross your arms in front of you. “My name’s Bonnie and I use they and them. Um… Are Tutorial Kid and Agathe are both okay names for you? And what are your pronouns?”

“Yeah! Both names are good, and I don’t care about pronouns. I only care about BATTLE!!!” The Tutorial Kid/Agathe continues, unfazed. You guess that means it’ll be okay if you use they and them? “My mom says you're very strong and you helped save us all. But you're just a kid like me. I need to challenge you to know your strength. So… let's play Rock Paper Scissors!!!” 

You chuff at them. “Um. Yeah. We kicked the King's crabbing butt!! I'm SUPER strong.” If Belle and Za were there, they’d be doing yucky heart eyes at you. They think your angry face is adorable. They make you feel like a kid sometimes, but it's also kind of nice that they treat you like a sibling, since Nille isn’t around to do big sister stuff. 

…Thinking about Nille is a bummer right now. You beat the King days ago, and you want to get back on the road to Bambouche. But Frin was still sick from doing too much Craft in stupid forever school, and you don’t want him to get sicker, even if it means you have to wait. You can’t leave yet. 

Meanwhile, you are SO CRABBING BORED You can’t go back to the kitchen to start dinner just yet. You’ve been cooking in the House’s kitchen instead of the Clocktower, ever since it got unfrozen. They have a lot of supplies, and you got permission to use anything, as long as it doesn’t blow up! And that never happens to you anymore! 

But sharing the kitchen also means you have to start cooking later, after the House cook is done preparing whatever boring stuff is on their menu for the night. It’s gonna be a couple hours before you can take your rightful place as the Master Chef Cooker.

Anyway , that means you have nothing else to do right now. And it's nice to be a Good Role Model and play with little kids. Especially the weird kids. So, after mulling it over for a few long, awkward moments, you sigh and respond to the Tutorial Kid’s proposal: “I guess we can play Rock Paper Scissors if you really want to.” 

“YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!” The Tutorial Kid responds with a shout, crouching down into something like a battle stance. “Rock Paper Scissors… The only fight there is. You know how to play Rock Paper Scissors, right?”

“Duh!!! I told you, I’m super strong.” You’re not actually fighting, obviously. Tutorial Kid is just being dramatic. This is a game, so you don’t need to shift your feet for balance like Frin showed you. 

“Right! Of course, what kind of person doesn't know Rock Paper Scissors, considering it's the basis of combat, of war, of LIFE.” You wrinkle your nose at Agathe. If those words were coming from a grown-up, you’d know for sure that they were making fun of you. This kid seems to be super serious, though. “LET'S!!!! PLAY!!!! Rock… Paper…”

They'd guessed you were a Scissors type and you told them no, so they probably wouldn't expect you to use Scissors during the first turn. You make a fist on the third beat, and stick out two fingers as the kid shouts “SCISSORS!!!!” 

Agathe stands with their fingers extended in a Paper sign. “NGH!!! I threw Paper!!! How could I… lose to someone like you…” Losing doesn't actually seem to upset them at all, though. They still have a smirk on their face. 

“OK, let's do it again!!! Rock, Paper….” This time, you switch it up and casually open your hand, forming a Paper sign. The Tutorial Kid howls, “NO!!!! I threw Rock…!!! I've lost this round… But… It's not over yet!!!”

You can't help it. They're such a goofy kid, you have to laugh. It's like they're an actor in one of the plays Frin took you to see, while you were on the road a while ago. Usually when he said it was gonna be a comedy it wasn’t really even funny, but sometimes they were good.

“Ok, last round!!!” They’re doing another dramatic pose. This time, you repeat the chant along with Agathe. “Rock, Paper…” 

You think Tutorial Kid is gonna try every different hand shape once. Except the secret hand shape you all learned from Loop, ‘cause they probably don’t know that one. But it would make sense to do all the normal hand shapes, for a tutorial. You keep your fingers balled into a fist, this time. 

Yup, you were right! You are the winner!!! You feel a little bad for beating a kid, but not really bad. They’re obviously having fun, even if they’re pretending like it’s a big deal.

“...You threw Rock? No… I threw Scissors… Why this… NGH…!!! You won every round… How could this… happen…” Tutorial Kid puts one knee on the ground, acting wounded. “I can do nothing but… accept my defeat. Anyway here's your reward!”

Agathe offers you a whole bunch of tonics. You're not sure where they were keeping those? They don't look like they have enough pockets to hold them. Do they have secret pockets like Frin??? You think Belle and Za would be mad if you accepted them, ‘cause the villagers probably need more tonics than you do. Frin and Dile might be okay with it, though? You're about to go on a long trip, so having more supplies would be good. 

“Uhhhh. Are you sure you wanna give me these? It was just a game. I don't need a reward.” Feeling self-conscious, you shuffle your feet a little, kicking up a small cloud of dust.

The Tutorial Kid grins. “Yeah!!! My mommy makes them, and she always gives me way too many. She worries about me a lot, but I'm super careful so I never need them.”

“Oh. That's nice. I guess I could take them, if you're sure.”

(You got five SOUR TONICS!)

(You got three SUPER SOUR TONICS!)

(You got one SUPER SWEET TONIC!)

(You put them all in your rucksack. Nice.)

“Good luck, Savior Kid!” They beam at you.

“My name's Bonnie.”

“Right! Good luck, Bonnie!”

“...Um. Thanks for the tonics. And thanks for inviting me to play, I guess.” You hesitate, not sure how you're going to fill up the rest of your afternoon. Dormont is so boring when you're not doing hero stuff. “...Do you wanna go skip rocks in the river?”

“HECK YEAHHHH!!!!” Agathe looks like they might explode. “Oh!!! Does that mean you're… ROCK TYPE?!”

You blow a raspberry at the Tutorial Kid. “Wouldn't you like to know!”

“I really would!!!” 

Chapter Text

The Tutorial Kid’s energy is com-tag-ous. Afternoon successfully booked, the two of you begin running down the hill toward the river.

When you get down to the bridge, you realize there’s somebody fishing there already. You don't want to interrupt them and scare away the fish. Maybe you’ll ask them if they have any extra fish later, though. The people in Dormont have been really excited to give you stuff since you defeated the King. (Belle would be weird about it, but she doesn't have to know.)

“The other Dormont kids like to hang out by the big rock near the bridge over there. I bet there are lots of smaller rocks for skipping, too,” Agathe suggests. You grunt in agreement before doubling back and turning east, toward where the river bends between the vegetable fields and the clocktower.

While you’re walking, the other kid tries to make small talk. “So you Saviors hang out together most of the time, right? What kind of stuff do the Saviors usually do?”

“Mmm. Yeah, they’re pretty great. When we’re traveling we’re always together! It’s safer that way when there are Sadnesses around. We protect each other.” You don’t feel like your role as Snack Master actually helps protect the others that much, but you puff yourself up with pride anyway. “But we all have super important chores to do, so I’m on my own for today! I already finished my chores though, because I’m very responsible.”

It's not really a lie, but it's not exactly the truth, either. Since the King is gone, and you’re not camping out, you didn’t actually have many chores today. There’s not much to do until you hit the road again.

Frin and Za are napping, and you don't want to bother them. Za never napped before the fight with the King, but he had explained to you that Frin needed a nap buddy right now, in case they had nightmares. (You know that's true, at least partly, but Za was also blushing when he said it. You can tell “nap time” is what Frin calls a double on-ton-dray, and you don't want to watch them being gross.) Meanwhile, Belle and Dile are having a Serious Talk with the Head Housemaiden. You were hanging out with them earlier, but they weren't saying anything interesting, so you left.

On your way to the rock-skipping spot, you pass a small field where a couple of sheep are grazing. They look different than you remembered from the last time you walked through Dormont. Stopping to gawk for a moment, you gasp: “Those sheep are naked!” It’s like seeing Frin without their cloak!!! Weird.

The Tutorial Kid laughs and clambers over the fence, even though it would only take a couple extra steps to walk around to the other side. “Yeah, my friend Bee’s family usually cuts off their wool in spring. But their parents were frozen until you beat the King. These guys got soooo fluffy!” They throw their arms around the nearest animal, nuzzling into its sheep-stubble.

One of your neighbors had chickens in Bambouche, and you saw a bunch of other farm animals while you were on the road, but this is the closest you’ve ever gotten to a sheep. You grimace. For some reason, it reminds you of one of the Sadness types you saw in the House. The ones Za called triplets. “It’s got weird eyes,” You comment.

“Meeeeeeeeeeh.” The sheep grumbles back.

“Meeeeeeeeeeh!!!” Raising your arms above your head, you glare at the sheep.

“Meeeeeeeeeeh!!!!!” Your new companion joins in.

Somebody giggles. For a second, you think it’s one of the sheep, but then you realize another kid is sitting in the grass behind the flock.

“Hi, Bee!!! I didn’t see you there!!!! But that was silly of me, because you’re always hanging out with the sheep. Ha ha ha!” Agathe does the weird fake laugh again and starts to haul themself over the sheep, just like they climbed over the fence a minute ago. The animal blandly walks away, and the Tutorial Kid falls back onto the grass with a gentle thump. “Whatcha drawin’?”

Without the sheep in the way, you can see the other kid clearly. They’re definitely younger than you, and probably a bit younger than the Tutorial Kid. Their face is in-scrook-ible. Sitting cross-legged, with a pad of paper in their lap and a pile of crayons in the grass. Holding up the pad of paper, they show you a picture of three people holding hands. Three big people, and one small person in the middle. It’s pretty good for a kid's drawing.

Agathe points at each of the figures in turn. “Is that you and your parents?” The Drawing One nods. Then Agathe turns to you. “Bonnie, this is Binta. They're the Drawing Kid. And I call them Bee, but that’s a special nickname just for us. You can’t use it.” They wag a finger at you. “Bee, this is Bonnie! They helped beat the King and unfreeze everybody!”

You feel your face darkening. It’s true, but it feels weird when they say it like that.

The Drawing Kid doesn’t say anything. They just look up at you and offer a shy smile, then turn to a new page and begin drawing a fresh picture. The Tutorial Kid doesn’t seem surprised. You guess that Binta’s quiet, like Frin.

You're a little surprised that the Tutorial Kid doesn't challenge them to Rock Paper Scissors, though. But they seem close, with special nicknames and all that. They probably play together all the time, and Binta doesn’t look like they'd be much of a challenge anyway. (Then again, neither does Belle, and Frin only looks like he could put up a fight when he goes Scary Mode.)

You all sit in silence for a minute, listening to the sheep baa-ing and munching grass. The Drawing Kid’s crayons also make a nice, soft grinding sound while they work on a new picture.

One of the sheep comes very, very close to you, and you try not to move. Those Sadness-like eyes still make you uncomfortable, but it doesn’t do anything spooky. It just eats a dandelion, then walks away.

The little artist suddenly lifts their pad of paper up to eye-level and examines it. They look at you, then back to the paper, and frowns before adding a few more lines with a light-ish crayon.

Finally satisfied, they hand you their newest drawing.

(You got the FRIENDSHIP DOODLE!)

“Oh! It’s me… and my family!” You gasp. They drew you, Belle, Za, Frin, and Odile, all smiling triumphantly. In a stroke of artistic genius, Binta has added some swirlies and little birds flying in the background to show things moving around, unfrozen. Looking up at the Drawing Kid, you see them grinning widely.

Something is missing from the picture, though. It’s not your whole family. Nille isn’t there.

Oh… The Drawing Kid has noticed you aren’t smiling anymore. Oh no!!! You’re having feelings!!!! Right here!!!!! Your two new acquaintances look up at you in shock as your lower lip wobbles.

Their shock doesn’t last long. In a half-second, they’re clinging to you like burrs. The Drawing Kid buries their face in your shirt and the Tutorial Kid puts their chin on your shoulder.

“Staaaaahp you dummies,” you begin to object, but your protest is cut off by hiccups. Oh no!!! Big, fat tears start rolling down your cheeks. Okay… So you needed a good cry.

It’s weird crying in front of these kids you just met, but you guess it could be worse. You’d been holding it in around your family because you didn’t want to worry them. Which is funny, because you kept telling Frin he was a dummy for doing the same thing. But they have big grown-up problems, and you just have kid problems, so that’s different.

“Th-Thanks. Um. Sorry I called you dummies… It’s just… I miss my big sister. She can be a real crab sometimes, but she takes good care of me and love her a lot. She got frozen all the way back home in Bambouche so I haven’t seen her in like forever. I really do think the picture is cool, though.”

“It’s okay,” Agathe whispers. “You can blow your nose on a sheep if you want. Bee and I won’t tell anyone.”

Your sobbing turns to laughter, and they laugh with you.

Eyeing the sheep, you consider Agathe’s offer, but you don’t think you want to touch it. Instead, you dig in your rucksack and find a napkin. It’s got some crumbs from a pastry on it, but it’ll do. You wipe your face.

For a minute, the Tutorial Kid looks at the ground like they’re gonna challenge it to a battle. Is that their thinking face? Then they look back up at you. “Um… But for real, Bonnie… Like for real for real!!! Lots of people in Dormont got frozen. We all cried about it. And we all wanted to fight the King and make him stop. But you actually did it!!! So… I bet your sister is gonna be real proud of you!!!!!” They do another dramatic pose, like they're punching the sky.

You don’t know what to say about that, so you just hug yourself and sniffle again.

The Drawing Kid lets go of your hand and sits back down with a ‘whump.’ They pick up their crayons and starts drawing again. A few minutes later, after you’ve caught your breath and cleaned yourself up a bit, they tug on your sleeve gently and hand you a new picture.

(You got the SIBLING DOODLE!)

They don’t know what Nille looks like of course, so they just drew you, holding hands with a bigger version of you. Except they gave her long pigtails instead of a hat like yours. You don’t think you’ve ever seen Nille wear her hair in pigtails, but you appreciate it, all the same. “...Thanks a lot. It’s great. You’re both really nice.” They give your hand a quick squeeze. You squeeze their hand right back. "Um. Tutorial Kid mentioned your parents were frozen. You must have missed them a lot, too." They nod, their mouth pressed into a thin line. You think they're trying really hard not to cry, too.

The Tutorial Kid hums. “Binta had a really hard time, but they're also super strong. And me and my mommy were taking care of them while their parents were gone!" Leaning over, they ruffle the younger kid's hair. "You said you and the other Saviors protect each other. We try to do that, too."

You nod. That makes sense. You're glad Binta wasn't all alone. You were alone for a little while after Nille got frozen, before Frin and the others found you. It was the worst.

(You put both of the drawings in your bag along with your Souvenirs.)

Agathe picks up a stick and jabs at the dirt for a minute before speaking again. "Y’know. My mommy said the Saviors are very strong, but being strong takes lots of practice!!! You have to do hard things, like running really fast or lifting heavy stuff. But you also have to let yourself rest too. You can’t be healthy and grow if you don’t rest. It works the same for your muscles and for your feelings!!!! My mommy’s a nurse, so she knows a lot about that kind of stuff.” They reach out poke your foot with the stick. Not hard, just a little tap. “That’s why I challenge people to battle! So I can get stronger!!!! But I always take a break after! And you did a lot of super duper hard things, so you probably need extra rest now, right?”

“Mmhmm. I guess that makes sense.” You wipe your nose and eyes again, thinking about Frin’s forever school. They got really strong, fighting and fighting and fighting, but it made them so tired... Maybe later, you’ll tell them what Agathe’s mom said. You hope it’ll make him feel better, too. “Anyway. I don’t want to talk about it anymore. Do you still wanna go skip rocks?”

The Tutorial Kid playfully punches your shoulder. “Yeah,” They turn to the Drawing Kid. “Bee, do you wanna come?”

They take a moment to think about it, then nods, and begins gathering up their crayons. You and Agathe help. You offer to carry their stuff in your bag, but the Drawing Kid has their own satchel. (You tell them you like their satchel and they smile.) All packed, the three of you keep walking to the river.

You guess making friends in Dormont isn’t such a bad idea, after all.

Chapter Text

You see the big rock that Agathe mentioned earlier, with three more kids gathered around it. The one sitting on top of the boulder sees you coming. He’s wearing a hat. It’s small, like a tiny, lightless version of the hat Frin likes to wear… But it’s a hat, all the same. You approve. Hats are cool.

“Uuuuuuuugghhhhhh, Tutorial Kid, are you here to make us play Rock Paper Scissors again?” He moans dramatically, but it seems to be a friendly jab. Agathe doesn’t seem upset, at least.

“Nah. I got my Rock Paper Scissors practice with Bonnie the Savior today,” They point at you, then do a dramatic pose. “I think I’m gonna level up soon!!!”

“Huh.” He gives you a half-hearted wave and introduces himself as Paolo, with he/him pronouns. Then he asks if you or any of your Savior friends are wizards, because he's the Wizard-Loving Kid.

“Um. I dunno. That’s a weird question.” You think for a moment. Frin might be the closest to an actual wizard, with the Wish Craft and the Time Craft, but you’re not sure if you should talk about that. “Does Belle count? She does, like, a whole bunch of different kinds of Craft.”

“Mirabelle? Nah. Mirabelle is from here. Dormont doesn’t have any real wizards.” The Wizard-Loving Kid wrinkles his nose.

“Maybe Dile is a wizard? She does a lot of Craft stuff and knows a lot of secrets and she’s old. And she’s from Ka Bue,” Solid wizard evidence, probably. “But she’s a nerd. Can you be a wizard and a nerd...?”

He considers this for a moment, then shrugs. “Probably? I don’t see why not. Wizards are supposed to be smart, anyway.”

You shrug back. “I could ask her if she’s a wizard, but I don’t think she’d tell the truth. Anyway!!! Me and Binta and Agathe are gonna go skip rocks. I guess you guys can come if you want.”

Paolo promptly climbs down from his boulder throne to join you. One of the other kids squeaks.

“Be careful! The frogs!”

Agathe whispers, elbowing you. “That’s Jeanine. She's the Frog-Loving Kid,” They turn to the girl, who seems distressed. “It’s okay, we’ll make sure not to hurt any frogs. You can join us too, if you’re worried.”

She takes a deep breath and looks down at her hands. In her lap, she’s holding an embroidered picture of a frog… Okay, she must really like them. “Um. Can I just watch from here?” Her voice is a tiny peep, like the frogs you often hear at night in the spring. It suits her.

The Tutorial Kid nods firmly, and addresses the third member of the Boulder Kid Party, who has been looking up at the sky this whole time. “Ciel, do you want to come too?”

The Sky-Loving Kid blinks owlishly, considering the offer. “Hmmm… I’m good. But let me know if you find anything that looks like a meteorite.”

You and Agathe and Paolo exchange confused glances; none of you know what a meteorite is, or what it should look like, but you nod anyway.

Your group begins searching the area for good rocks to throw, while Binta sits down next to the Frog-Loving One and takes out her art supplies again. You guess she’s just here for the company, not the rock skipping. You feel kind of glad that they still wanted to hang out with you, even though you cried earlier.

You find some solid candidates for skipping rocks, and start piling them up in a little pyramid by the bridge. After a few minutes, Paolo appraises your rock stock. “Do you think that’s enough?”

“Hmmmmm…” You and Agathe circle the pyramid, giving it a careful appraisal. They nod at you, and you nod at them. Putting your fists in the air, you give the signal: “YEAH!!! Let’s GOOOOO!”

You choose your weapon first, picking a nice flat-ish stone that feels good in your palm. You used to skip rocks in tidepools with Nille all the time, so you know exactly what you’re looking for. The summer before the King crabbed everything up, you had a rock-skipping competition with your classmates and you got second place!

Skipping rocks on a river is a whole different playing field, though. You had tried it with Belle and Za and Frin while you were camping, but you could never even come close to your old record. (Belle ended up doing the best… But you’re sure Frin and Za were going easy on you both.)

The first rock is a bust. You’re out of practice, and you don’t get the spin quite right. “Booooo, you crab!” You shout after the stone as it plops into the water, only bouncing three times.

Paolo goes next. The rock he chooses is a little too round, but he does okay with it. It skips just as many times as yours did. Agathe totally over-shoots the river with their first throw, flinging it into the woods on the other side with impressive force. They seem pretty pleased about it. Behind your group, you hear the Frog-Loving Kid squeak again: “Remember the frogs!!!”

Your next throw is more successful. “Five skips and no frogs were hurt!!!” You call out. Your new friends nod and hum in appreciation.

The championship continues as the pyramid you built slowly shrinks. Just when you think it’s about time to go searching for more rocks, a familiar voice calls out from the path across the bridge. “Lay down your weapons! We surrender!”

“ZA! AND FRIN! YOU’RE DONE WITH YOUR GROSS NAP!!!!” With a thump-a-thump-a-thump and a THOMP, you race over the bridge and hop over the gap to meet them on the other side.

“Gross nap? What’s gross about napping?” Frin just looks sleepy and confused. You pause in front of him for a second, bouncing a little bit, and make eye contact. He understands now that this means you’re gonna give him a hug.

Za does a snort-giggle while you squeeze Frin. “Where’s my hug, Bonbon?”

“You’ve gotta wait for it. Frin goes first because he needs my hugs more.”

“You’re wise beyond your years, kiddo.”

“Uh-huh, I know,” You nod.

You keep squishing Frin until they ruffle your hair. That’s probably enough for now. Then you give Za his turn.

“Me and the Dormont kids are skipping rocks. Wanna show them how the pros do it?”

Frin lowers his face into his collar like a turtle, giving a sly glance at Za. “Who, us? I think you might be taking our skills for granite.” Za guffaws.

“NO!!!”

“Oof!” Za raises a hand to his forehead, doing his delicate maiden face. “You didn’t like my joke? I’m hurt. That was stone cold, Bonnie.”

“Aww, Bonbon, don’t quarry,” You cringe as Za joins with more stupid puns. “Skipping rocks with you would really magma day. Because you rock my world.”

“STOP!!!! STOP IT! QUIT IT OR YOUR DINNER IS GONNA BE SPICY PEPPERS WITH HOT SAUCE!!!!!” Turning around, you walk back towards the river, avoiding Za’s puppy-dog eyes. They both follow close behind you. Up ahead, your new friends are staring with varying degrees of awe.

Right. Because these dorks are Saviors and also grown-ups. They make it easy to forget that. You should introduce them. That would be polite!

You point at Frin and Za and shout to the other kids. “This is Siffrin and Isabeau! But I call them Frin and Za.” Turning around, you see the two of them are both making weird faces. Ugh, they're doing heart-eyes because they think you’re cute. Whatever. Pointing back at the group of kids, you tell them, “That’s Agathe the Tutorial Kid and Binta the Drawing Kid and Paolo the Wizard-Loving Kid, and I forget the other two’s names, sorry.”

“It’s Jeanine and Ciel!!!” Agathe yells across the bridge.

“And Jeanine and Ciel,” You confirm.

“I see,” Za says, waving a big hand at them. “Nice to meet you guys.”

Frin is standing still and making one of their Dark faces again, which means they’re probably thinking about the loops, so you grab their hand. “Frin, it’s okay. Forever school’s over.” You nod firmly at them. He needs a reminder sometimes. “C’mon. Do you need help jumping across the river?”

They shrink back like a turtle again. His face is dark, but now it's in an embarrassed way, not Dark with a capital D. “Thanks, Bonnie. Um… I’m not sure I can make the jump yet. My legs are still wobbly. Sorry.”

Za is hovering over Frin, looking worried, but not touching. You glare at him a little. You know Za is shy because he has a big stupid crush, but he’s being a big dummy. Obviously Frin needs your help. You pull them over to a big rock so he can sit, and give him another hug. “Okay Frin, you wait here! Me and the other kids will bring you some rocks so you can show ‘em how it’s done.”

You ignore Za, who is softly squeaking. As you turn around, you hear him whisper to Frin, “Oh Change, this is so adorable, I can’t handle it!”

“You can’t handle crab, Za,” you yell over your shoulder.

“Ow, my heart!”

Skipping across the bridge again, you tell the other kids what’s up. “Frin’s not feeling good so he can’t jump. Let’s go to the other side and find some more rocks so he and Za can skip them, too.”

The group looks hesitant. Half of them are staring at the ground, and half of them are staring over the river at Frin and Za. “Um. Is the small guy okay? I saw them before you all went to fight the king and they looked… Not good. They look better now, but like… They didn’t seem very friendly.” Paolo frowns with trep-... Trep-i-cation…? Trep-i-lation…? Um. Nevermind. Paolo frowns, looking worried.

“Oh. Yeah, it’s okay, Frin was just having a really really bad day.” A lot of really really bad days, actually. “Frin can look scary, and they’re super shy, and sometimes they’re really crabbin’ stupid. But they’re nice!” You puff your chest out proudly.

The other kids look at you like they’re trying to decide if you’re telling the truth. Of course, they can see that you’re being SUPER honest! Your family is the best. Finally, everybody nods in agreement.

Tutorial Kid punches the air again. “Okay then!!! It’s ROCK TIME LET’S GOOOO!!!!”

Chapter Text

This is kinda awkward. The other kids are being shy around the grown-ups, and the grown-ups are being too nice. Frin and Za totally whiffed their first couple of throws, you could tell. “HNNNNNNNNRGH YOU GUYS!!!! DO IT RIGHT YOU'RE WASTING ROCKS!!!!!” You pummel Isa with your fists a little bit, but not hard. “Don't go easy on us, we're not babies!”

“Oh,” Za chuckles at you, "I see.” He picks up another rock and FINALLY does it right. Holding your breath, you count. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven… Was that another little skip at the end or just a big splash?

“Not bad. Was that seven or eight?” You ask, preening a little.

“Seven, I think,” Paolo has his face all screwed up, squinting out at the water.

“Eight,” The Tutorial Kid breathes out, their eyes sparkling.

You puff your chest out. “I told you they were good at this!!!”

The kids all nod in agreement, then you look at Frin. “Your turn! Don't mess up on purpose this time!!!”

They smile softly and lean down to pick up another rock, but their hand wavers and they pick up a funny-shaped stone from next to the pile. “Ugggh Frin quit being a crab, you know that one isn't gonna skip!!!”

“Oh! Um. Sorry. It's just.” They hold it up in front you, weighing it in their palm. “I think this one might be a meteorite?”

“WHAAAAAAAAAT!!!!!!! …does that mean” You look at him flatly.

Next to you, Agathe gasps. “That's the thing Ciel was looking for! CIEL CIEL CIEL CIEL CIEL-” Frin winces a little at the alarm-bell sound the Tutorial Kid is making until Ciel trots over.

“But what is it,” You examine the rock Frin is holding more closely. 

“Meteorite," Frin says, handing it over to you.

(You got a METEORITE? Maybe?)

Frin points upward. "Um... Sky rock?” It's super heavy, but it just looks like a normal rock. Maybe a little more shiny than usual on the outside? And it's chipped, so you can see the inside is a little lighter... Kinda like it has a crust. If it didn't weigh a ton, you'd think maybe somebody had baked a weird-shaped loaf of bread and left it in the oven for waaaay too long.

“Sky rock?” You repeat after them. His face doesn't look like he’s joking, but sometimes it's hard to tell with Frin. You squint. “Are you messing with me?" They raise their hands in a gesture that says I'm innocent, I swear.

"It doesn't look like there are any rocks up there. Just.” You squint and look. There's not much. Just bright light and blankness and a couple birds and some clouds. "Clouds and stuff." Clouds aren't made of rocks, for sure. They look too soft.

Before Frin can answer, Ciel has made their way over the bridge and is peering at the suspicious treasure in your hand. Their face lights up. “Oh oh oh! We gotta… Um!!! Um!!!!! Drawing Kid!”

You're confused, but Binta and to Frog-Loving Kid (name starts with J - Jamie? Jimmy? Janet?) have appeared next to you. When did they cross the river? They're kinda sneaky, like Frin.

The Drawing Kid seems to know what Ciel is asking for, and hands them their pad of paper. Ciel holds it up to you??? “Um?????”

“Try drawing!! With the rock!!!!”

You look at Frin. He gives you a little nod and makes a pencil motion with their hand.

“Um? Okay?” Lifting the heavy rock, you touch the paper and make a scratch with it. It doesn't do anything??? It just scratches at the paper. Boring.

Ciel seems excited, though. They make a shocked face. You think it's the first time you've seen them make, like, any kind of expression at all. “Aaaaa!” They bounce in place, and all the other kids are looking at each other weirdly. They seem confused too, so you guess isn't normal for the Sky-Loving Kid. “Um. Um. I have a magnet at home. Don’t!! Go anywhere!!!!”

They make a running leap back across the river. You look at Binta, who shrugs. Then you look at Frin. “They’re going to get a thing that helps to tell if the rock is from the sky,” he explains.

“Huh,” Za makes a little noise. “Neat. How do you know so much about this stuff, Sif?”

They blink a few times and don't say anything for a minute. Za starts to look a little worried. You give Frin a good poke. "FRIN! Did you forget???"

"Did I forget... what?" Frin looks confused. 

"WHAT WE WERE JUST TALKING ABOUT, FRIN!!! THE SKY ROCK!!!!! HOW DO YOU KNOW ABOUT SKY ROCKS!!!!!!"

"I... don't...?" They lift their hand up like they're trying to hide under their hat, but then they realize they don't have the hat anymore, so he just turtles his face into his cloak again. You groan with frustration, but only a little bit, because you know Frin can't help it. How can he forget so much stuff, though?!

Meanwhile, Paolo is standing a few steps away, staring. He looks intense. Frin notices and gives him a shy little wave. The Wizard-Loving Kid's face only gets grumpier looking. “You never answered my question, either,” Paolo grumbles.

“What?” You say.

“Huh?” Za says.

Paolo points directly at Frin. “You never answered my question,” he repeats, “The other day. You're not a wizard, right? What are you?”

Oh, this is about the wizard thing? Like he asked you earlier? Oh!!! “FRIN!!!! Don't! Tell him all your WIZARD SECRETS!” You focus your whole mind, staring at Frin's eye, trying to beam your thoughts into their head: (Frin Frin Frin let's do a prank!!!) They look awkward for a second, and you think they're about to ask you why you're making a face at them, but you see your mind-message finally land. (YESSSSS! Okay okay now be cool about it!!!)

“Oh, Bonnie, don't be silly. I certainly don't have any wizard secrets to tell.” Frin winks at you, and you worry that maybe he's being too subtle. What if Paolo can't tell they're winking ‘cause they only have one eye? It doesn't look like a wink, just a blink. Maybe you should tell him later. But, um. Maybe not. You don't want to talk about his eye, actually.

When you look at the Wizard-Loving Kid, you know he's taken the bait, even though Frin's acting wasn't very good. “Bonnie you said your friends weren't wizards! WHAT SECRETS ARE THEY TALKING ABOUT.” He grabs your arm and tugs.

“Noooo Paolo, I'm a good secret keeper, I won't say nuffin.” He's so excited, he’s doing a little dance like he needs to pee! Hehehe!!!

Slowly, mysteriously, Frin raises one gloved hand to the sky and brings it down, down, down, and BOOP! They touch Paolo's nose.

He squeaks. “W-what was that???”

Frin glances at you before answering the Wizard-Loving Kid with a wicked little grin. “Secret spell.”

Everybody looks confused when the two of you burst into a fit of giggles. Za also is trying not to laugh, even as he says “Don’t tease the poor kid, Frin!” You don't get the chance to keep pranking Paolo, anyway, because the Sky-Loving Kid is running back down the path towards you. They look out-of-breath.

“I GOT THE MAGNET!!!!” Ciel holds a thing over their head.

“It just looks like a horse shoe?” Agathe says.

“Horses wear shoes?” You've never really looked at a horse's feet. “How would they put shoes on? …Nevermind, I don't care.”

Za looks at the thing Ciel is holding. “Oh, so you're testing to see whether it has a high concentration of ferromagnetic minerals, yeah?” Everybody blinks at him. He blinks back. “Um. I mean, the magnet can show us if the rock is mostly metal?” Frin makes heart eyes at Za, while Ciel nods so hard you worry their neck might snap.

“DO IT! DO IIIIT!!!” Agathe is crouched in their battle pose, like they're expecting this to be an epic Rock Paper Scissors match instead of just… A rock.

Ciel holds the magnet up towards you and braces themself. You squint, rolling the maybe-meteorite over in your hand. “What do I do?”

“Touch the rock to the magnet!” The Sky-Loving Kid can barely contain themself.

“Okay?” You lift your arm and slowly reach out toward Ciel, holding the lumpy stone up, not sure what to expect.

When you're a couple inches away, you feel the rock leap out of your hand and throw itself at the magnet!!!!

“EEP”

“AHHHHHHHH?!?!”

“WIZARD MAGIC!!?!?!”

“CRAB YEEEEEEEAAAAAAH!!!!!!”

The Sky-Loving Kid holds the rock up above their head while the Wizard-Loving Kid and Tutorial Kid run off some of their excited energy, running in circles. You grab at Frin’s cloak. “So that means it’s a sky rock???”

“Um…” He thinks really hard about it, making a face. What?! Did he forget again??? “It might be?”

Frowning, you look at Frin, then at Ciel (who is still busy celebrating) and back at Frin. “What do you mean it might be?”

“Odds are good? It’s sunny with a chance of meteorites!” Frin gives you a thumbs up, and Za laughs.

Since Frin won’t give you a real answer, you decide it’s a sky rock. It’s more fun that way.

Chapter Text

After the thrill of finding a sky rock wears off, you all have to decide what to do about it. You imagine a sky rock's gotta be good for something, but Frin says he forgets, and Ciel doesn't know either. They just think it's cool because it comes from the sky. You're a little disappointed, but you suggest that maybe Dile will know what you can do with it. In the meantime, everybody agrees that the Sky-Loving Kid can keep it, since they like it so much. They squeak out a “thank you.”

“I didn’t do anything. You should thank Frin! He found it,” You say. It’s only polite.

Ciel turns to Frin and gives them a little smile. “Um. Thank you, Frin. I promise I’ll take good care of it.”

They nod, looking serious. “Of course. I trust you.”

The Sky-Loving Kid turns to scamper home, mumbling about where they’re going to put their new treasure. Once they’re out of sight, Frin crinkles their nose and wink-blinks at you.

Then Drawing Kid and the Frog-Loving Kid settle down on the ground by the rock where Frin is seated. He makes a funny face. It reminds you of the time when you were staying at an inn a couple weeks ago. They got surprised and nearly spilled their drink because a cat suddenly jumped into their lap. It’s not a bad kind of surprise. You know he likes cats.

You gently touch their foot with your foot, and they give you a little smile and poke your arm in return.

Za is watching the group, standing with his hands on his hips. He’s so tall and sturdy, sometimes being near to him makes you feel like you’re under a Favor Tree. Then his eyes get all sparkly when he notices that the Frog-Loving Kid is doing embroidery.

“Whoa! Nice frog!” He says, crouching down and leaning in to get a closer look.

“Jeanine loves frogs,” Agathe explains to him. (Oh, good, you didn’t have to ask what her name was again! Jeanine! You’ll definitely remember this time. You’re not as forgetful as Frin.)

“That's TOAD-ally awesome!” Frin and Za both say it at the same time.

“Jinx,” Za says, grinning widely. They both start laughing - Za with his big booming ‘ha ha ha,’ and Frin with a quiet snort.

“Hehehe, toad-ally, like toads! Hehehehe!” She giggles. Oh no, it’s another pun person!

“Yeah, your embroidery is really neat! I’d say it’s an… un-frog-getable work of art,” Frin chirps, earning more giggles from Jeanine. Her face is a couple shades darker than normal, but she looks really happy.

“I'm glad you find my puns so ribbit-ing,” The big guy wears a goofy grin.

You roll your eyes, but you don't want to make Jeanine feel bad for liking stupid jokes ‘cause she's just a little kid, so you don't say anything.

“Do you know how to embroider, Isa?” Frin tilts his head and lifts a hand up to touch his face, right under the eye he lost. You feel a stab of guilt - is it hurting?? But then you realize he’s just pointing at the eyepatch, because Za sewed it. Whew. “Is that very different from sewing?”

“Um, I know the basics? Those smooth parts are satin stitch, right?” He points at the frog’s belly and looks at the Frog-Loving Kid with his eyebrows raised. She nods shyly. “And it looks like you used a stem stitch for the outline? …What’s this one called?”

Slowly, Jeanine shows her teeth in a big, big grin. “Hehehe… Fly stitch...”

The Bad Jokes Appreciation Crew all giggle. “Fly stitch. Yum,” Za sticks out his tongue and croaks, pretending to be a frog looking for dinner. “I think I’ve seen it before, but it was called something else… Um… Open-looped stitch? Can you show me how you do that one?” Behind him, Frin makes a sour face. Oh, right. They call the forever school loops. Or maybe they’re thinking about their weird star friend Loop. (You wonder where they went. You had so many questions for them!!!) Anyway, Frin probably likes the pun name better.

“Uh-huh,” She nods and pokes her needle up from underneath the cloth, then back down. “First you make a normal straight stitch. That’s gonna be the fly’s wings,” Pulling the needle back up again, in a different spot, she continued. “Then you make the fly body and put on its wings.” She looped the thread into the stitch she had just made, and brought the needle back down again, close to where it was sticking up from the fabric. Tightening it together, the whole thing made a V shape. Another fly for the frog to eat.

“Oh, that makes sense!” Za tries to copy the motions Jeanine was making. It looked silly, since he was just waving his huge punching hands around in the air. Behind them, Frin is watching with more focus than normal. You’re not sure if they’re actually interested in the embroidery, or if they’re just ogling Za.

The little girl peers up at her large student. “If you want to make it a really fat, juicy fly, you can make its body a french knot stitch, like this.” She picks out another fly, but this time, she makes a little round knot at the point of the V, so it sticks out.

“Oh! Interesting. What does the name mean? French knot?”

The Frog-Loving Girl shrugged. Probably not worth remembering the name, since it doesn’t have anything to do with frogs.

The raised surface of all the different stitches and knots does look pretty cool, up close. “Can I touch it?” You ask, wiggling your fingers.

Snipping off the thread with a tiny pair of scissors from her pocket, Jeanine nods and hands it over to you. “Be careful,” she cautions. The fabric is held flat, stretched over a wooden circle, but it’s lighter than you expected. You poke at the frog picture. It’s not slimy... Obviously. But you’re still a little disappointed.

Za asks for a turn, so you hand it to him, and he asks a bunch of other questions about how Jeanine made it. You smile. He’s like a little brother to you. Sure, he’s so big that he could probably eat the rest of you for breakfast! But even though he looks cool and tough on the outside, he’s actually just a nerdy, gentle marshmallow guy. (He wouldn’t hurt a fly,) you think. But you don’t say it out loud, because it’s a bad pun.

“I’m bored now,” Agathe declares. “Can we find more rocks?”

“Yeah! You haven’t shown us how you throw rocks with your wizard powers yet!” Paolo points at Frin. “You gotta!”

“I’ll join you in a minute. I wanna show Frin and Za the picture that Binta made for me first,” You tell Agathe, giving them a double thumbs up.

“CRAB YEAH!!!” Agathe punches the air a few times. The two of them sprint away, making a running leap over the broken bridge. There are more rocks on that side. You see Agathe make a basket out of the front of their shirt, and they start collecting. They’re very noisy about it.

You climb up onto the rock next to Frin. It’s barely big enough for both of your butts, so you make sure he sees you first. “I’m gonna sit with you now,” You say, then you lean on him. Swinging your rucksack into your lap, you open it up and dig out the picture that Binta drew. “Look! The Drawing Kid made this. It’s me and Nille. Binta’s never seen Nille but they did a good job guessing what she looks like!” Then you put the other picture on top of it, “And this one is our whole family, ‘cept for Nille.”

Frin’s eyes get huge and they make a tiny little noise in the back of their throat. Oh no!!! Is that a sad sound??? Oh no!!!!! Now they’re sniffling and their eye is getting all watery! They definitely need a hug, so you squeeze them, but you don’t know what else to do.

“Za!!!!” You yelp, “Frin is leaking!”

“Oh!” His head whips around and he scrambles up out of the dirt. “Sif! Siffrin. Siffarooni. Buddy. What’s wrong? Are you okay?” He holds out his hands like he doesn’t know what to do either, even though he’s an adult and he should be good at this. “Um. Can I hug you?”

He nods, so Isa gently wraps the two of you up in his arms.

You’re… Really not sure what’s going on with Frin now. He’s looking right at you, with big tears dripping out of his eye, but he’s also smiling, and you’re not sure if he’s shaking from sobs or if he’s laughing? “I- I- I’m- I’m okay. R-really,” Frin stutters. “Th-Thank you. Th-th-thank-”

“Hmm. Breathe with me?” Za says, and all three of you do it together. In, and out. You remember going out on a fishing boat with Nille, last year. This reminds you of that feeling, bobbing up and down on the waves. After a while, the motion of the sea made you sick... But right now, the gentle rise and fall feels soothing.

“...Thank you,” Frin says after a few more breaths, voice steadier. “The drawing. It’s wonderful.” They give Binta a watery smile.

“I think so too,” You say.

The Drawing Kid stands up and joins your group hug, leaning on Frin’s knees. Jeanine also grabs one of Za’s legs and a fistful of Frin’s cloak.

You feel a little bad about it, since he’s feeling crummy... But you can’t help thinking that it’s kinda nice to take care of Frin, for once.

Chapter Text

By the time the Tutorial Kid and the Wizard-Loving Kid return with more skipping stones, Frin has calmed down and is just sniffling a bit. They tried to apologize for crying a few times, but you and Za took turns saying “Nuh-uh” until they finally gave up and accepted that it was okay.

Seeing Agathe approaching, their shirt-pouch bulging with the rocks they collected, you remember what they told you earlier. “Oh! Frin! Tutorial Kid said their mom is a nurse, so she knows a lot of stuff. You know, about being healthy and strong? And she said, um,” You pinch your face, trying to remember the exact words, “Being strong is hard and you have to practice at it. And you also have to rest to get stronger.”

“Uh-huh!!! With your muscles and your feelings!!!!” Agathe adds, dumping all their skipping stones into a messy pile on the ground.

“...Oh?” Frin blinks, looking back and forth between the two of you.

“Very wise words,” Za says with a firm nod. Right!!! He also knows a lot about muscles and feelings!!!!

You can see Frin relax, coming out of their turtle shell just a little bit, even though their cheeks are still dark. “Well. Thank you. That’s, um. Very helpful.”

“Now,” Paolo is getting impatient, “It’s time!” He marches right up to Frin and thrusts a nice rock into their hands. “SHOW US YOUR POWER.”

Frin takes another deep breath, in and out, like they always do when they’re worried or scared… But this time, you think it’s because they’re trying not to laugh. “Okay. Here I go.”

They stand up and walk over to the riverbank. You stay really close, just in case their legs get wobbly again and they need a hand. Looking up and down the river, they shuffle around for a bit, trying to find the perfect angle. Gotta make sure it doesn’t skip right out of the water!

Then, with a flick of their wrist that makes it look so easy, ugh, Frin sends the rock flying. Hop, hop, hop, hop, hop, hop, hop, hophophophop- plip !

“AAAAAAAAAAA THAT WAS ELEVEN!!!!!” Agathe yells, throwing their arms around your shoulders! Squeezing you, they hop up and down with excitement (but they’re careful to avoid stepping on your feet.) You laugh and cheer with them. “GO FRIN YEAHHH!!!!”

Paolo stares at the spot where the rock plopped into the water with awe plain on his face. “That was epic,” He says. Looking back up at Frin, he sniffs and adds, “But I’m not sure it was actually wizard magic.” 

They wink/blink at him, and Paolo sticks out his tongue, grinning cheekily. You’re pretty sure the Wizard-Loving Kid has caught on to Frin’s act now. Oh, well. It was funny while it lasted, and he doesn't actually seem mad that you fooled him into thinking Frin is a wizard for a little bit. (You wonder what tipped him off.)

You all continue playing by the river for a while. You, Paolo, and Agathe take turns skipping rocks while Jeanine, Za, Frin, and Binta relax and talk about artsy stuff. 

Your new friends are pretty fun, but suddenly realize you have a problem now. You wanna give them special nicknames.

Paolo can be Lo , and Jeanine can be Nine , that makes sense! But what about Binta and Agathe? Bin and ta don't sound right, and Agathe already took Bee. Gotta choose something else. You don't think Ag or The sounds good either.

And then there's the matter of Ciel. You can't really make their name any shorter. But since they went home already, you don't have to worry about their nickname yet. Hmm.

“BONNIE BONNIE THAT WAS TWELVE SKIPS!!!!!!!!! AAAAAAAAAA!!!!!”

WHAT? “WHAT?!” You whip your head around. How did you do that?!?!? Crab, you broke your record AND beat Frin while you weren't even paying attention! 

“Nice one, Bonbon,” Za calls out. Frin gives you two thumbs up. Huh. You wonder if maybe this is why Frin zones out all the time? Because zoning out gives you some kind of superpowers?  Oooh. You don’t think that would go over well in real school. But if you were in forever school, you’d definitely use that trick a lot . Heh. 

After you all get a couple more decent skips in, Za mentions that it's starting to get kinda late. (Ohhhh that's right, it's the Chef Cooker's time to shine!!!!) 

You clap your hands to your cheeks with excitement. “YES! GOTTA GO MAKE DINNER!!!” The other kids look a little bummed, though. “You can all come too,” You add, “I'll make enough for everybody!!”

That doesn't cheer them up. Agathe pouts. “My mom said I gotta come home in time for dinner,” they say. The others all nod sadly. Their families must all have said the same thing.

Huh. That makes sense. Of course they all have families to get home too. 

Actually, it's pretty cool that they spent so much time hanging out with you today. You used to hang out with your friends in Bambouche like this, but since the whole country freezing thing, haven't really liked spending time away from your family, unless you're busy cooking. It makes you miss Nille extra hard. The Dormont kids seem pretty in-de-pan-dunt, though.

You feel Za put one of his big hands on your head. If you weren't wearing your hat, you know he'd be messing with your hair. “Would you like us to ask their guardians and invite them for dinner again some time before we head to Bambouche, Bonnie?” (Oh, that's a good idea! He can use his grown-up privi-ladges to convince their families!!)

“YEAH! I wanna show them my master chef cooker skills!” You beam at him. Turning back toward your new friends, who have begun packing up their stuff, you say, “I'll see you tomorrow, right?”

The Tutorial Kid gives you a gap-toothed grin. “Are you challenging me to another Rock Paper Scissors match? Crab yeah! I'm gonna kick your butt next time!”

You roll your eyes and give them a friendly little shove, then do quick hugs for everybody else. You give Binta a little extra squeeze. “Thanks again for the drawing,” You mumble. 

Standing next to you, Frin leans down so he can whisper to you and Binta. (Though they aren't even that much taller than you, to begin with. He doesn't really need to make himself shorter. Silly.) “Yeah. Thanks from me too, Talented One. It's really special.”

You grab Frin’s hand and give it a squeeze before he can start crying again.

After the other kids leave, you and Frin and Za begin walking back toward the house. Za is humming a little song under his breath, but Frin is quiet. You look up at him, frowning a little. He seems a little zoned out.

You decide that you've gotta ask them about feelings stuff, since Za is being a weenie about it. “...Hey.”

They tilt their head at you. “Hey?”

“Frin.”

“Bon?”

You look back at the path, and kick a loose piece of gravel. “...Why did Binta’s drawing make you cry? I mean. It was a happy cry, right?” You know about those.

“Oh, Bonbon,” Za grabs your other hand, looking back and forth between you and Frin, like he’s not sure if you're bothering them. You grimace, expecting them to clam up and tell you it’s Complicated.

Rubbing little circles in the back of your hand, Frin shakes his head at Za, just a bit. He whispers, “It’s okay. It’s just…” He does the breathing thing. In, out. You do it with them. “You’re right. It was a good cry, Bon. I was just... really happy because you called us family. ”

“Well… Yeah? Like. Duh. Of course.” You shrug. Za makes an embarrassing whining noise, and you shoot him a glare, tugging on his hand. (Stop being gross,) you think at him. Then you turn back to Frin, who is sniffling a little bit. “HEY! It’s… Um. You don’t have to be weird about it!”

Suddenly, Za barks with laughter. It startles both you and Frin, but then you all relax a little bit. He has a good, comfy laugh. Some of the awkwardness fades away. “Sorry, sorry! I’m not making fun of you, I swear! It’s just that, um…” He ruffles the back of his own hair with one hand, “Look, I grew up in a pretty big family. Six kids. Middle child,” He points to himself.

You squint at him, thinking… “Yeah, I can see it.”

He snorts. “Uh, thanks?”

“That wasn’t a compliment,” you say.

“Frin, I’m being bullied by a preteen. Please advise?”

You realize that the three of you have stopped in your tracks, and Frin is clinging to your hand like a life preserver; he’s doubled over, wheezing with laughter. Za's silliness was con-tag-yes. Taking a moment to recover, they straighten up again. “H-heh. I don’t think I can help you there, Za. This is how it’s gotta be.”

“Noooooo,” Za wipes a pretend tear off his cheek. “C’mon, do you wanna hear my story, or not?”

“STORY TIME!!!” You lift your hands into the air (still holding on to both of theirs tightly.)

“All right, all right. So. Big family. Middle child. And believe it or not, I was super shy and nerdy as a kid.”

“Uh-huh. Yeah. I can still see it,” You interrupt, and Frin jokingly shushes you.

“My family back in Jouvente, um. I love them! Of course! But… I never really felt… Comfortable with them. I was always weird. Then I decided I wanted to Change. So I did. And I felt less weird about myself after that, but I feel like my relationship with my parents and my siblings just got even weirder... So when you said not to be weird about it, I just thought…” He makes a vague gesture, “I have no idea how to not be weird with family.”

“...Yeah, you’re right, that is weird,” Scrunching your nose at him, you add, “But you’re allowed.”

“Allowed?” Frin looks confused.

“Yeah,” You know he’s looking for an explanation, but you don’t know what else to say. “...Anyway. Um. Do you feel weird with our family?”

He bends down and wraps his arms around you, then pulls you up in the air, into a spinning hug. YESSSSS! YOU’RE SO TALL NOW!!!

“YEAH I DO! The BEST kind of weird, Bonbon!”

“Nooooooo you weirdo!!!” You giggle, grabbing at his cheeks. They feel sandpapery.

“You love it! You love my weirdness because we're faaaamily! ” He just squeezes you harder while you squirm.

“UGH FINE! PUT ME DOWN YOU CRAB!” You punch his shoulders gently, and he brings you back down to the ground. Looking back at Frin, who is definitely super duper crying again, you hiss, “Za is like the annoying little brother. But we love him anyway.”

Hiccuping, Frin shuffles his feet and whispers, “...What am I, then?”

You think about it for a minute, pursing your lips. Hmm. “You’re kinda like Nille? You’re the big sibling who tries super hard to take care of everybody else, but you have anxie-bees because you’re still figuring out how to take care of yourself.” You point at him. “You need a parent.”

You’re pretty sure you messed up a word, but neither of them correct you, because they’re laughing too hard. You feel proud. 

After the laughter settles down, Frin and Za take your hands back. You rush toward the House again, tugging them both along with you. "C'mon, c'mon, that's enough storytime! Let's goooo, I'm crabbin' starving already!!!!"

Chapter Text

(Oh crab this is gonna be good!!!) You shuffle your feet in excitement as Za takes the baking sheet from you. Your family insists that you shouldn't be using the House kitchen alone, and it makes sense. It's different from using your camping cookware, or even your little kitchen back home in Bambouche - all the House stuff is big and clunky. You would need a stool just to put the bread rolls in the oven. Za can reach it easily, though.

“What kind of bread is this? It looks… Darker than normal?” He gives one of the rolls a gentle poke before closing the oven.

“Pumpernickel!!!” You explain. “I've never made it before, but the House has a rye starter, so I wanted to try it!”

Nodding thoughtfully, Za put his hands on his hips. “I'm sure it'll be great. Your food is always delicious.”

“Mmhmm. Someone's gotta make sure you guys get proper noot- nooch-” (No, wait, you know this one!) “NUTRITION!”

He gives you a big smile. “Right! And you're the best person for the job, Bonbon!” You beam back at him. “Now, what's my next assignment, Master Chef Cooker?”

Using your fingers, you count out the items on your to-do list. “We've got the bread and the cauliflower'n squash'n yams in the oven, and the sopa criolla just needs to simmer for a little bit longer. Just gotta dredge and fry the fish now.” You hadn't even needed to ask the Fishing One to share their catch with the Saviors - apparently they already gave Dile a huuuge catfish earlier today! They even fileted it for you, which is nice, because that's your least favorite part.

“Yes, chef!” Za gives you a Defender salute, which makes you laugh, then helps you prepare your frying station. He's on dredging duty, and you've got your stool in front of the stove, pan sizzling and tongs at the ready.

Za squishes the fish filets into the spiced cornmeal-buttermilk mixture. Trying not to drip too much, he hands them to you one by one. “Uh, Bonbon,” He looks a little nervous, and for a second you think he's gonna scold you for being too close to the spattering pan - but you have gloves and an apron on! But no, he just asks, “How spicy is this gonna be?”

You snort at him. “Za! You wimp.”

He pouts like a big baby. “So mean! But true.” He gives you one of his classic lopsided grins.

“It's gonna be a little spicy. But I think you'll be okay. And!!! We have rice pudding!!!!! For dessert!!!!!! So if it's too much, that should help!”

He hands you the last piece of fish. “You're so good at this, Bonbon! You thought of everything.”

“Of course! I'm the Snack Master!”

“Uh-huh. And the Snack Master is no slack master,” He says, and you snap your tongs at him playfully.

“BAD! GET OUT OF MY KITCHEN!” …Actually, that would be helpful. “This is almost done. Go tell everybody it's time for food. They can help bring stuff outside. We're doing a picnic again.”

Za nods, and he's about to dash out the door, but you remember: “WAIT! UM. The oven first!”

After turning off the stove and removing the frying pan from the heat, you step down from the stool and quickly move it out of the way, handing the oven mitts to your kitchen helper. He looks pleased to be trusted with this important job. Once the bread and veggies are out of the oven, you shoo him away. “Go go go! It's time!”

You start sorting the dishes out between two trays and a picnic basket so they'll be easier to carry. You tuck a couple of big bottles of water in the basket, too. It's important to stay gyrated!

It doesn't take long for your family to show up. Belle takes over, handing the heavy basket to Za and one of the trays to Dile. She puts the cutlery in a stack of nested cups and hands them to you. 

Finally, she offers the picnic blanket and a big, warm smile to Frin, since he's still a little too wobbly to carry the heavy stuff. He looks embarrassed, but he smiles back at her. Grabbing the last tray, she nods toward the door. “Picnic time!” She cheers.

“PICNIC TIME!!!!” You lead the march out of the House, holding the cutlery up over your head.

“Thank you, chef cooker, for this wonderful picnic,” Frin calls out from the back of the parade.

“You haven't even eaten any of it yet!!” 

“But we already know it's going to be delicious, Boniface. Thank you.” Oh! Even Dile has been praising your cooking lately! Victory!

Turning to look over your shoulder, you grin at them. “You're super duper welcome!”

There are lots of good picnic spots around Dormont, but you don't go too far, since Frin is tired. There's a little hill just down the road from the House. No broken bridges to jump over or anything. 

As you all begin spreading out the picnic blanket, there’s a gust of wind, and it goes flap-flap-flap. It surprises you a little - you realize that the King’s curse had even been slowing the wind down! You don’t think you’ve felt it blow so strongly in months. (It's actually getting a little chilly,) you think to yourself. You remember Binta's naked sheep. They were kinda creepy, but you still hope they're not gonna get too cold without their wool.

You and Za have to put down your stuff to help Frin spread out the picnic blanket, while Belle and Dile set their trays down on two of the corners to keep it from flying away. Then you all get settled in for your meal while you explain what's on the menu. FINALLY, you hear a chorus of “yums” and “mmms” and “so goods!” 

For a few minutes, there isn't much more talking. Everybody is focused on the food. Eventually, Dile takes a break to let a piece of pumpernickel bread soak in the sopa de criolla, and she clears her throat. 

“So,” she says, “Now that Siffrin is beginning to recover, I'd like to revisit our plans for traveling to Bambouche. I spoke with the postal worker this morning, and they’ve agreed to give us a lift in the mail wagon on their northward route, which will give us a good head start. I know we are all quite eager to reunite Boniface with their sister, after all.” Everybody else nods, looking a little worried.

“But we sent her a letter! She knows what’s going on. We don't need to rush, right?” You frown, trying not to stare at Frin. Of course you miss your sister a ton, but he's still not feeling good! You don't want to see their Craft sickness get worse!

She looks at you. Her mouth is a straight line and her forehead is all wrinkled with worry. “Yes, and I'm sure that will be a comfort to her. But she's your sister and your guardian. I… can't imagine a letter will assuage all her worries. We need to get you home, Boniface.”

Belle reaches across the blanket and holds your hands. “Madame is right. If any of us were in her shoes… Change , I don't think I'd be able to sleep at night if I didn't know you were safe.”

“Me too,” Za mutters, and Frin nods, nestling deeper into their cloak. 

“Ughhhh why are you all being such a BUMMER,” You whine, throwing Belle’s hands off yours. Grabbing another pumpernickel roll, you angrily rip it ope. “I GET it! You care about me! But I care about you too, and I don't want any of you to get hurt again because of me! That would SUCK. YOU SUCK! Stupid stupid stupid- UGH. ADULTS.”

“Bonnie…” Oh, crab, now Belle looks like she's gonna cry and then you're gonna cry too. Why is everybody doing so much crying today?! Why can't you just have a nice day together with your family?!?! “Breathe with me?” Frin's voice is so tiny, you barely hear it over the sound your… Oh. You are breathing really loud. You should slow it down so you don't hyper-ben-tilate.

Your whole family does it with you. 

Breathe in… And out.

“Bonnie. Bonbon. I know you’re still upset that I got hurt while I was trying to protect you,” Frin says, and you grumble in response. “And I know you don’t like it when we treat you like a kid… But you are one. As adults, it’s our responsibility to keep you safe,” You grumble louder as they continue, “And I would do anything in my power to keep you safe. Without hesitation.”

Ughhhhh. This is something they talked about with you in forever school, isn’t it? And you don’t CRABBING remember.

“You’re family to me. And I don’t have any other family besides this one, ” They wave one gloved hand around in a circle, palm facing up. Then they point at you. “But you do . You have Nille. I need to make sure you get back to her in one piece. I wish I could promise that none of us will ever get hurt, but if it comes down to it, I will always pick you over a stupid blinding eye. ”

Yeah. You know from the tired way they say it. This has gotta be something he’s told you before. You wonder how many times you got mad at them for protecting you during forever school.

Belle is picking at her own fingers now, and you kind of feel bad for pushing her away. “Yeah!!! W-we’re like family, and we all want to protect each other, Bonnie. Especially you.”

You crumble your pumpernickel roll into smaller pieces while you think. “...I guess I yelled at you about this when you were in the time loop thingy?”

Frin gives you a fond look. “Yeah.”

“So you’ve probably been yelled at enough already,” You say, dropping the bread crumbs in your bowl of sopa.

They shrug. “I wouldn’t say I’ve gotten all the yelling I deserve, but that’s not really my call to make.”

“ Sif! ” Za gives him a pathetic look. “Don’t say that! That’s so sad!”

You take another big breath and let it out with a huff. “FINE. Okay. We’ll all protect each other because we’re family. But that means you gotta protect yourselves too. Don’t be stupid. AND YOU,” You point at Frin, “Are getting the comfiest seat in the mail wagon, so you can CRABBIN’ REST on the road. Don’t make yourself sick again. And Dile can get the second best seat because she’s old.”

“Thank you, Boniface. That seems quite reasonable.”

“So…” You stir the bread crumbs into your sopa, making mush. “When are we leaving? I still wanna show my chef cooker skills to my new friends. We can still do that, right?”

“BONNIE, YOU MADE NEW FRIENDS???” Belle is so excited she almost knocks over one of the water bottles.

“Yeah Bonbon! It’s your turn for story time now! You gotta tell us how you met the Dormont kids!"

“You were THERE for most of it, Za!”

Belle looks at Za like she’s been betrayed. “What did I miss? You have to tell meeee!!!”

“Pfft. Ha. You’re silly, Belle.” 

You encourage your family to take a second helping of all the food, and then you tell them about your day.

Chapter Text

You and your family talked late into the night, discussing your plans for the trip. Since it’s such a small town, the postal service only has one route through Dormont. The mail wagon is going south today, and you’ll be catching a ride when it goes back up north tomorrow. So’ll have another day and night in Dormont before you go! And you wanna make the most of it, so you wake Belle up at the crack of dawn to help with breakfast. 

She’s sleepy, but once you make her some coffee, she makes a pretty okay kitchen assistant. Not as helpful as Za (she has to use the stool to reach some of the high-up shelves even though she’s an adult! Haha!) but at least she can help you get the quiche in the oven. You also have the left-over rice pudding from last night, some fluffy bread from the boulangerie, and a bunch of fruit. Hmm… 

“Mira!!! Can we use wine?”

“What??? Bonnie! I don’t think-”

“Not to drink, you crab! I wanna make poached pears with it!”

“Oh! Um. I suppose that’s okay?” She agrees, but she doesn’t want to give you the whole bottle, so you read out the recipe from one of the House’s cookbooks and she measures it for you. That’s okay, Belle is good at measuring stuff. She accidentally cuts her finger zesting the oranges, though, and she has to use healing craft on herself. You scold her a little, but Belle is sensitive and getting defeated by the zester is punishment enough, so you’re nice about it. Even though she’s not bleeding anymore, you give her a bandage (but you don’t kiss it better because that’s for babies.)

The pears have to stay on the stove for a long while, so you and Belle make some whipped cream, taking turns with the whisk when your arms get tired. Eventually Za comes into the kitchen to check on the progress of breakfast, and you make him take turn too. 

“Doesn’t the House have one of those Crafted mixers? Is there a reason you’re doing it by hand?” He asks, and you realize he’s right!!! That would’ve saved you a lot of effort, if you’d remembered. You don’t have one at home because they’re big and expensive, so you forgot it was an option. Crab.

“It’s better if you do it by hand, because then it’s made with love,” You tell him.

“I see!” Za replies. Imitating Frin’s mumbling, he repeats, “Mix with love, mix with love, mix with love...” Giggling, you and Belle and join the chant. 

“Mix with love! Mix with love! Mix with love!”

Za’s strong arms get the cream nice and fluffy pretty quickly. You add a little vanilla and mint to it, and lick the whisk. Yeah, you did a good job.

By the time everyone else is awake and ready for breakfast, the poached pears are okay , but you think you should probably have started cooking them first. They would’ve soaked up more flavor over time. You decide to leave them in the cooler until dinner, and set out the rest of the fresh fruit with breakfast instead. That’ll be one less thing to cook later! And you’re gonna have to cook a lot. BECAUSE YOU’RE GONNA GET YOUR FRIENDS TO COME HAVE DINNER WITH YOU TOOOO!!!!

But you have to ask their parents first.

Za and Belle come with you this time, but you run a bit ahead of them, ‘cause they’re being slowpokes. It’s super easy to find the Tutorial Kid. They’re in the same spot as yesterday.

“Hey!!! You!!! Bonnie!!! Have you returned… TO CHALLENGE ME ONCE MORE?”

“Nah. I came to invite you to dinner, but we could do the challenge thing too if you want.”

“YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!” The Tutorial Kid responds with a shout, crouching down into their battle stance again. “Rock Paper Scissors… The only fight there is.”

“Do you say the same things every time you challenge someone?” That’s weird. Doesn’t it get boring?

“Mostly, yeah. Oh!!!! MORE CHALLENGERS, I SEE?” Za and Belle must be catching up. You look over your shoulder at them. 

Belle looks a little worried. “Is everything okay, Bonnie?”

“Uh-huh. This is Agathe the Tutorial Kid. They wanna be strong so they challenge everybody to Rock Paper Scissors.”

“Oh!!! Don’t let us interrupt, then!!! We’ll wait for you over here.” The two of them sit on the bench by the library. Mirabelle takes out some papers and they start looking at them together. Probably boring grown-up stuff.

“Alright, Agathe,” You point at them, “It’s time! Let the battle begin!!!”

“CRAB YEEEAH! LET'S!!!! PLAY!!!! Rock… Paper…!”

You throw Paper this time. So do they.

“Oh... We both threw the same thing! That's a draw! Ngh...! Looks like I shouldn't underestimate you… Ok, let's do it again!!! Rock, Paper....”

Sticking two fingers out, you choose Scissors. Agathe has made a fist.

“YEAH!!! My hands have thrown a Rock Shape... Victory is mine this round.”

…Wait a second… Didn’t they… “TUTORIAL KID. ARE YOU DOING THE SAME ONES YOU DID YESTERDAY?”

“Hehehehehe…. Am I? I suppose you’ll have to find out!” You squint at them. Either they’re being really stupid, or they’re playing some Dile-level mind games. “Ok, last round!!! Rock, Paper…”

You bet they’re just being stupid about it. Not that you think they’re actually stupid. But like… They are pretty committed to the tutorial bit. What’d you pick last time? Rock, right?

“...You threw Rock? No… I threw Scissors… Why this…” Once again, Agathe kneels on the ground. “According to the laws of this village... You have won… the Rock Paper Scissors game. This was an intense battle... Thank you for fighting with me.”

(You got one SWEET TONIC!)

(You check to see if Belle is watching, but she’s still busy with those papers. You put it in your satchel.)

“Uh, do you always do the same thing? How is that supposed to make you stronger?”

Agathe shrugs. “Repetition?”

“Huh?”

“Anyway, what was that about dinner?”

“Oh yeah! You can come have dinner with us! We’re leaving tomorrow, so.”

“WHAAAAAT??? You’re leaving?!!?!?!?” They were still kneeling on the ground, so now they fully fall in the dirt, for the drama.

“Uh-huh. I gotta go back to Bambouche ‘cause that’s where my sister is. She’s probably super worried about me, now that she’s not frozen anymore. We sent her a letter, but…” You sigh, giving Agathe a hand up off the ground. “She’s got a lot of anxie-bees.”

“Do you mean anxieties?” They accept your help and stand up with a little bounce. Whew. They have so much energy.

“Yeah, that’s what I said.” 

“Huh. Well, I’ll have to ask my mommy. She’s not working up at the House today, though! I think she’s still at the shop.”

“Crab yeah! We gotta go there and get some groceries too!” You and Agathe fetch Za and Belle so you can head to the shop together. You’re definitely gonna need their help carrying stuff!!!

When you get to the shop, the Tutorial Kid unsurprisingly runs ahead to their mommy and grabs her around the legs. She’s almost as tall as Dile, with really long, dark hair in a braid down that goes almost down to her butt. “Hey kiddo! Oof! Did you get your practice in for today?”

Agathe grins. “Yeah! Bonnie kicked my butt again. Not as bad as yesterday, though.”

“Bonnie? Oh! I didn’t realize we were getting a visit from the Saviors today!” The Tutorial Kid’s mom looks at you and Belle and Za and winks. Wait, have you met her before? She looks familiar.

You tug at Belle’s skirt and whisper up at her. “ Hey! Do we already know Agathe’s mom from somewhere?”

She looks down at you, cheeks getting a little dark. “Bonnie! Nurse Thibault took care of Siffrin when they were sick, remember? She works at the infirmary up at the House!” 

“Ohhhhhhh!” That makes sense.

“Oh, Mirabelle, please. No formalities are necessary. You can just call me Agathe’s Mom.”

You don’t get why that's funny, but Belle and Za both laugh. They start making small talk, and you get bored real fast. You give Belle’s skirt another yank. “ Belle! Ask about dinner!”

“Right!” Za hears you. “Bonnie is quite an accomplished chef, and they would like to invite Agathe and the other Dormont kids to dinner tonight. It’ll be a little going-away party before we continue our journey.”

“Oh! That’s very sweet. Of course, that would be lovely!”

AAAHHHH-”

“Volume, honey,” Agathe's Mom gently puts a hand on their head.

“ Yeaaaaaahhhh!!” They whisper.

You do some shopping while Belle talks to Agathe's Mom about a bunch of boring stuff. Okay, not all boring, some of it is important, like how the Tutorial Kid is lactose intolerant. (That's okay, though. Milk upsets Isa's tummy too, so you know how to work around that.) Also, she promises to talk to the other parents and see if Binta, Ciel, Jeanine, and Paolo can come to dinner too, which Belle appreciates because she doesn’t know their parents as well, and she was feeling anxious about asking them to arrange a “play date.” You pretend you didn’t hear that.

Next stop is the boulangerie, since you're gonna need more bread for tonight. You pick up some pastries for lunch while you’re there, too. You make sure to get a few savory things for Frin, who seems to have lost his taste for most sweets after forever school.

While you're there, you realize that it would probably be polite to invite the boulangier's daughter to dinner. She's younger than the other Dormont kids, probably a year or two younger than Binta, and you don't know her super well. But she seemed nice! You remember she gave you an extra croissant the first time you visited! (You ate it right away.) It turns out that you don't have to worry about another dinner guest after all, though. The boulangier says she's gone to visit her recently un-frozen mom in Montserval. Za mentions that you're leaving for Bambouche tomorrow, and Montserval is on the way up north. 

You wonder if her mom is also a boulangier. Maybe you can stop and visit her for more snacks on the road! 

Then you talk to the Fishing One, who gives you the BIGGEST salmon. They try to give it to you for free, but Belle makes them take your money. What a bummer.

After that, you go ask the Blind One for veggies. You kinda wonder if they're using some kind of special Craft on their fields, ‘cause they have the shiniest veggies you've ever seen. And you've seen a lot! When Belle and Za have him distracted, you try giving him a good sniff to see if he smells sugary like Wish Craft, but he doesn't. More like tomatoes. 

You don't think there's a Craft type that smells like tomatoes? It's probably just normal tomato smell from gardening. But maybe you should ask Dile later. Hehe. She could be researching tomato-craftonomy.

Belle and Za walk back to the House with you, carrying the groceries. You've got a big spaghetti squash under each arm, too! In your head, you go over the menu for tonight: breads from the bakery, lemon butter spaghetti squash, crispy fried eggplant, teriyaki salmon, orzo soup with tons of veggies, the leftover poached pears from breakfast… and… 

YOU’RE GONNA BAKE A CAAAAAAKE!!!!!

Chapter Text

You got Dile to be your Kitchen Assistant today. She won’t be joining dinner, because she said “no Expression in the world could convince me to attend a party where the children outnumber the adults, so I will be taking my meal privately tonight, thank you.” Haha. She’s so weird. You’re a bit bummed that she won’t help you try to convince Paolo that she’s a wizard, but you’re glad you get to spend time with her. 

You’re glad to have her help in the kitchen. She’s actually really good at it, almost like a genuine grandparent. She even taught you a few neat Ka Buan recipes, like oo-gee-niri. And the teriyaki sauce you’re gonna use tonight!!! That’s a good one. You like how a lot of Ka Buan food mixes sweet and salty and acid-y stuff with savory flavors. (Dile calls those oo-mommy.)

But. She is not good at decorating cake. 

And it turns out that you aren’t, either.

You may have gotten in over your head with this one. You really really wanted to try doing a big layer cake!!! A CARROT cake, because the Blind One had the shiniest carrots you’ve ever seen!!! You planned to make three whole tiers!!!!! But, uh, the bottom layer cracked when you put weight on top of it. And then the whole thing kinda caved in when you added the third layer. You’ve been trying to cover it all up with cream cheese frosting, but it’s too thick and sticky and cake crumbs are getting everywhere.

“There’s got to be some kind of… Trick to this.” Dile squints at the cake, giving it a poke with a spatula. You shrug.

“There’s probably some secret Baker Craft. Maybe when we get back to Bambouche we can take a cake decorating class at the House there?” You spin the cake around, looking at it from all sides. “Y’know… It kinda looks like a volcano.”

“A volcano? Huh. You’re right. Like one of those science experiments they make children do at school…” She looks at your face and frowns. “Before you ask, we are not filling the cake with baking soda and vinegar to make it erupt .”

“Awww…” You guess that would ruin the flavor. Even if it looks bad now, it’ll still taste good.

Dile chuckles at you. “I don’t think there’s anything else we can do to beautify the cake, Boniface… Don’t worry, though. It might not be elegant, but it has a certain charm.” She puts an oven-mitted hand on your head. “Your guests are going to be here soon. Why don’t you run and get the others to set up your picnic spot? I’ll pack things up here.”

You nod and go looking for the rest of your family. Luckily, they haven’t gone far. Belle and Frin are right down the hallway waiting for you! “Reporting for dinner, Snack Master!” Frin quips as you approach. You poke him in the stomach and he goes “Oof.”

“We’re almost done! It’s picnic time! Where’s Za?”

“With your friends! Agathe’s Mom dropped them off a few minutes ago. The Drawing One, too. But Agathe couldn’t sit still, so he took them outside. I think they already got the picnic blankets set up, if you want us to start carrying food!”

“YEAH!!! You go get stuff, I’ll go outside and be a good host ‘cause that’s also my job as Snack Master.” Grinning with pride, you give Belle and Frin a little shove toward the kitchen. They’re moving painfully slow on purpose. “Go go go! Everybody’s gonna be hungryyyyy!”

By the time all the food has been ferried to the picnic location, Jeanine has also arrived. She quietly approaches you, cupping something in her hands. Motioning for you to come closer, she opens her palms to show you a tiny little frog. “Oh!” You say. “Neat!”

After you’ve spent a couple minutes appreciating the frog, Paolo’s dad drops him off. He also brought a huge basket of fruit! There’s a pineapple on top of it, so you politely thank him and then quietly ask Za to take it inside. You know Frin’s not gonna have an allergic reaction unless he actually eats it, but you still feel kinda worried about having it nearby while you’re all eating.  

Ciel arrives a little bit late, and they brought… a scraped knee. Apparently they were looking at the sky and tripped while they were walking. Agathe scolds them for not paying attention, but they say it with a playful tone that makes you think this probably happens all the time. It’s a good thing Belle is there to heal them this time!!! (You were going to offer them a bandage to make them feel better, too, but Agathe got to it first. They must carry bandages along with all those tonics, ‘cause of their mom being a nurse and all.)

Everybody is very impressed with your food and eats until they’re stuffed. Of course. You puff up with pride as they dig in. There are many compliments to the chef (it’s you!!! And Dile also helped, but she’s not here, so you’ll gladly take all the credit.)

While you digest, Jeanine shows Za some more embroidery stitches. Frin and Ciel and Belle all lie down in the grass and stare up at the sky; you catch bits and pieces of their conversation. It sounds like they’re talking about clouds, but you’re too full of food to listen.

“Hey. Bonnie.” Agathe pokes your arm and whispers more quietly than you thought they could whisper. Paolo and Binta are leaning toward you, too, looking sneaky. They’re being careful not to let the adults hear. Something is definitely up. 

They look at Belle and Frin and Za to make sure they’re not listening, then nod at Paolo, who  whispers: “Don’t tell anyone . But we’re gonna sneak out later. For a secret quest. After bedtime. Can you meet us? In front of the House?”

WHAT. THEY’RE GONNA DO A SECRET NIGHT QUEST?! “ Crab yeah! ” You try to whisper, too, but you might be a little louder than you meant to be. Your brain is buzzing. What are they planning?! You wanna ask more, but you’re gonna have to wait until there are no grown-ups around. 

Paolo and Agathe nod at your response, and you notice Binta give you a little smile, raising one finger to their lips as if to say this is a super secret.

You know it’s probably a bad idea to do late night shenanigans the day before you leave Dormont, but you can’t resist the call to adventure. 

It’s very hard to act cool for the rest of the evening.

Sneaking out at night turns out to be way easier than you expected. Maybe you should have Frin’s job, since you seem to be good at this sneaky stuff. But revealing your secret sneakiness wouldn’t be very sneaky, would it? Hmm. For now, you’ll keep your job as Snack Master… And be a secret ninja as a side hustle. Yeah.

Claude is staying with Euphrasie, so you and Belle have her dorm to yourselves. But you’re sharing her bed because Belle likes to have a cuddle buddy. You were a little worried that it would be hard to avoid waking her, but all you need to do is wiggle out of bed after Belle falls asleep. She rolls over and sleepily mumbles, “Mmm… Where y’goin Bonnie?” But you just tell her you’re going to the bathroom. You go flush the toilet and wash your hands (very tricky, and also very good hygiene) and by the time you return, she’s gently snoring. You don’t try to get back into bed. It’s time for night mischief!!!

The hardest part is making sure nobody sees you when you’re leaving the House. Some of the Housemaidens stay up pretty late. It’s not like you’re not allowed to be there, but they’d probably ask questions if they saw you wandering around alone, so you hide behind pillars every time you see somebody coming.

When you get outside, the other kids are nowhere to be seen… But then you hear Paolo quietly calling your name from around the corner. “Bonnie! BONNIE! C’mere!”

Paolo, Binta, and Agathe are hiding in the dark shadows around the other side of the building. You do a quick group hug.

“Are you ready for part two of your special party?” Agathe grins at you, and thrusts another picnic basket into your hands.

“Huh? But I’m still full from dinner!”

Your three companions look at each other and grin. “Oh, we’re not having another picnic. We have other plans.”

Lifting up the flap on the picnic basket, you find… Eggs?

“...Egg plans?”

“Egg plans,” Paolo confirms. Binta giggles.

You just look at them in confusion, but Agathe gestures for you all to follow them. “C’mon! We’re going up the fire escape to the roof!”

THE WHAT????

“THERE’S ANOTHER WAY TO GET TO THE ROOF????” You clap your hands over your mouth. “Sorry!”

“Yeah, of course! It’d be a fire hazard if there wasn’t another exit.” You are never, ever telling the others about this. Frin would definitely cry. And hey... Maybe it wasn’t even there when you the House was all wonky from the King’s curse? It was, uh, really messed up. Yeah. Definitely a likely story.

Being super stealthy, you all climb up the fire escape. You’re a little winded when you reach the top, especially since you’re awkwardly carrying a basket full of eggs for some reason? But it was way easier than battling a bunch of sadnesses to get there. You walk right through the hall that scared Dile, and finally… 

You see him. The King, smaller now, barely more than Za-sized. Frozen in time. His back is turned to you.

You scoff at him. What a STUPID CRAB.

Agathe jumps in place beside you. “It’s time!”

“Time? For…?”

“REVENGE!!!!!” They don’t care about being quiet anymore. You doubt anyone will be able to hear you on the rooftop, anyway. It’s real windy.

You must still look confused, because Paolo smugly grabs the picnic basket from you and opens it up. He holds an egg out to you.

“We’re going to egg the King. ”

OH.

OH!!!!! Crab. Maybe you should have told Frin about this. He would probably be happy to participate. But they might tell the others, since they’re trying not to lie so much, so keeping your night adventure a secret was probably for the best.

Paolo drops down to one knee, playing up the drama like Tutorial Kid does. “Savior Bonnie. Will you do us the honor of throwing the first egg?”

“CRAB YEAH!!!!!!!!! REVENGE TIME!!!!!!!!!!”

Grabbing the egg from him, you run around to face the King from the front. “EAT THIS, SUCKAAAAA!”

The sound of the egg hitting the frozen King’s stupid crabbing face is SO GOOD. You immediately make grabby hands for the picnic basket, and Binta picks it up and runs over to you. They’re so little, they can hardly lift the basket, but they do a good job.

“Thank you Binta!!” You say, then pick up more ammunition. One egg for each hand.

SMACK.

Only one of the eggs hit the target. The other one flew off into the dark and cracked somewhere on the stone roof of the House, but you don’t care. You don’t even care that you’re wasting perfectly good eggs. You look at the egg goop dripping down the King’s stupid head and you laugh and laugh and laugh.

You all take turns. There are dozens of eggs and only one King. He is powerless against your yolk-y onslaught.

Whew.

“You guys are the best,” You tell your friends, breathing heavily as you wind up for another throw.

“Uh-huh. We gotta give you some good memories in Dormont so you’ll come back to visit some day, yeah?” Agathe grabs three eggs at a time and flings them into the air above the King, letting them rain down on him. Crack, crack, crack.

Binta climbs up the King’s back with great effort. Holding on to his neck, she reaches down toward you. You hand her an egg, and she puts it in his crown. You giggle and give her another egg, and another, until his crown is a nest of eggs. Then Binta brings down their fist on his head, smashing all of them.

“King omelette,” You say, and they nod seriously as they drop back to the ground.

Unfortunately, your picnic full of eggs does not have Infinite Snack magic. You run out eventually, and also, it’s getting super chilly up here with all the wind. You share a very gross, goopy group hug before you make the journey back down the fire escape. “Thanks for revenge,” you say, squeezing them.

“You’re super welcome,” Paolo says.

“I’m gonna write you all a letter as soon as I get home to Bambouche, okay?”

“Not if I write you first,” Agathe pokes your side. Ow. Haha.

Chapter Text

Nille is gently touching your shoulder. “Tooooo earlyyyy,” you groan, burying your face in the pillows. Waving a hand, you try to swat her away like an annoying bug. Your very valid protest is met with cooing, and she starts playing with your hair. (That’s weird. Why’s Nille being weird.) It feels nice, though, so you start to fall back asleep.

She stops suddenly. “Bonnie,” Oh. That’s not Nille. “W-What’s this stuff in your hair?” That’s Belle. You can hear the anxie-bees in her voice. 

(Oh. Right.) Rolling over, you rub your eyes with your fist. “Mrrrrggh.” She’s smiling, but it’s a little… twitchy. Right. She asked a question. (Ugggggh you’ve gotta get it together or she’s gonna realize you snuck out last night.) “Wha’ was that?”

Belle tilts her head, her eyebrows all scrunched up in concern. Huh. She’s already fully dressed. She must have gotten up a while ago. You slept late. OH! BREAKFAST! 

“BREAKFAST???” You shout, fully awake now.

She snort-laughs a little bit. “It’s okay! Isabeau is out getting us something from the boulangerie.” You relax a little. The boulangerie is good. But you do kinda feel bad. You wanted to make them a big breakfast before leaving Dormont. And Belle still looks a little upset. “Are you feeling okay, Bonnie? Did something happen last night? You’re, um… You have something in your hair. And, um. A little bit on your face.”

Oh no, she’s suspicious! Think fast! “Um… I… Got up for a midnight snack last night.” Massaging your cheeks, you feel some dried egg goop. Ew. You really should’ve washed up before going back to bed last night. “‘M okay, just sleepy.”

Squinting, she makes a little “hmm” noise. “O-okay… Well… Um. Are you sure? You’re feeling alright? Y-you don’t need to see the nurse or anything?” She puts a hand on your forehead.

“Nnnnnooooooo, I’m good,” You say, trying to sound casual. You let her check you for a fever so she doesn’t get worried. If Tutorial Kid’s mom noticed that they snuck out last night, you might get imble-cated. “I wanna get going.”

“Pfft. Alright, alright. You go wash up and get ready. We’ve still got a couple hours before the mail wagon leaves, so you don’t need to rush.”

Sighing with relief, you push yourself out of bed. You’re still tired, and you don’t think you could answer any more crabbin’ questions right now. You go to the bathroom and check yourself in the mirror. Belle was right - you still have gross bits of dried-up egg all over. That’s gonna take some scrubbing. Bleh.

While you’re cleaning yourself up, you hear a knocking sound in the other room. Za’s voice calls out, “Breakfast delivery!” You hurry out to meet him. Since you didn’t actually get a midnight snack, you’re starving. Stepping out of the bathroom, you see your whole family has gathered in Belle’s dorm room. Nice! But Claude’s there too, making things a little bit crowded. You frown at her. You think Claude is kind of funny, but she seems to annoy Belle. You think it’s kinda like how you used to get annoyed at Nille before you got your own bedroom. Grown-ups need space sometimes, too.

The gathered adults all go quiet, giving you a funny look.

Surprisingly, Frin is the one who breaks the silence. “Hey Bonnie! Our early bird took a little eggstra time to hatch this morning, huh?”

(Oh, crab. They’re making egg puns. They know.)

Za and Claude both bark with laughter, and Belle purses her lips like she’s trying very hard to be serious. Even Dile snorts. Face burning, you run up to Frin and poke him in the stomach. He responds with a cat-like “nya,” which causes another round of laughter from everybody. You glare at him for a moment while they recover.

As their laughter dies down, you stomp your foot. “Who tattled?”

Dile rolls her eyes. “Nobody tattled on you kids, Boniface. There’s a Crafted security system on the fire escape to alert the Head Housemaiden whenever it’s used. It took pictures.” She holds out a blurry image of you, Agathe, Paolo, and Binta climbing the fire escape in the dark. (Huh. That’s actually kinda neat.) Frin mentioned that there was a picture-making mirror somewhere in the House before, but it got broken when he was looking for the King. You didn’t think there would be more picture-making mirrors in other places.

But. More importantly. “You all KNEW there was a fire escape???” You thought you were gonna have to lie to them about it forever. Your com-shins couldn’t bear it.

Belle throws herself down on her bed dramatically. “Ugh, I wish - um. Sorry, Siffrin. I mean, um. I-it would have been nice if that had been an option when we were trying to get to the King.” You see an opening and try to jump onto the bed after her, aiming to start a tickle fight, but Za grabs you around the middle and lifts you up high, letting you kick the air. (Whee! Tall!) “One of the trap classes rigged the fire escape so it disappears when the House goes into lock-down.”

Dile raises her eyebrows up high (but not as high as you!) “That’s… Some impressive Craft.”

“It’s not Craft, actually! It’s entirely mechanical,” Claude says, grinning. Belle gets up from her bed and peeks around the corner at her roommate, giving her a dirty look. “Aww, Plums, I didn’t make it. I just… offered my advice here and there.” She shrugs, making Belle’s frown even deeper.

Frin, leaning against the far wall near the door, catches Belle’s eye. They motion to her, putting one hand on their chest. They breathe in, lifting their other hand slowly, palm up. Then they breathe out, flipping their hand so his palm falls toward the floor. 

Leaning back behind the corner of the room to avoid looking at Claude, Belle repeats after Frin, then gives them a shaky smile, mouthing the words “Thank you.”

Now that you’ve stopped kicking, Za puts you back down on the floor. “So, uh… Am I in trouble?”

“Kid, I think you’ve started a national holiday. You’re an inspiration. Half of crabbin’ Dormont is up there vandalizing the King right now, and there’s no sign that they’re gonna stop before sundown.”

“Claude,” Belle sighs.

“I don’t think we need to scold them for this, Mirabelle. I think Boniface has earned a healthy disdain for authority from our experiences over these past few months.”

“M’dame! Think of the poor janitorial staff!” Za puts his hand on his forehead, pretending to faint. "Somebody's gonna have to scrub the King to keep him from stinking up the House! That's horrible!"

“Okay, fine. Boniface, next time you’re sticking it to the man, we expect you to clean up after yourself. Alright?”

You nod firmly and give her a firm salute. “Yes, M’dm’Dile! ...Now where's breakfast?"

Chapter Text

Being one of the Saviors is pretty cool sometimes. People are always excited to see you, and they keep giving you free stuff (even if Belle won’t let you accept it, half of the time.) And you’re happy you got to make some new friends, of course! 

But you were so crabbin’ ready to leave already, and now you had your bags all loaded up and you everyone was still standing around talking.

Okay, mostly Euphrasie was doing the talking, really. 

Thank you Saviors of Vaugarde, you’ve grown so much Mirabelle, we’ll miss you, blah blah blah.

You don’t think you like Euphrasie much, even though she’s tall. (Ugh, her name is so crabbin’ long, but she doesn't deserve a nickname yet.) Belle definitely thinks she’s awesome, but Frin’s always weird around her. They’re being weird now, nodding their head wearing a fake smile. 

Whispering so you won’t interrupt the stupid adults’ conversation, you ask Frin, “Hey. Hey, Frin. Hey. Are you zoning out again?” 

They are definitely zoning out again, so you sidle up, making sure that he can see you, and poke their hand. Frin jumps, making a cat noise. It’s loud enough that everybody else looks in your direction.

“Cat Frin,” you explain.

“Cat Sif,” Za replies, hiding his smile really badly. 

“Oh, I see,” The Head Housemaiden says, hiding a smile behind her hand.

As he blinks down at you, Frin’s mask of a smile softens, becoming more real. “Bonnie!”

You scrunch your nose at them. “Yup. That’s my name, don’t wear it out.” He and Za always repeat each other’s names, but that’s their thing. “I’m bored.”

Glancing up at Euphrasie nervously, Frin mumbles, “Um. I’m sure we’ll be hitting the road… soon?”

You mumble back, “She's not gonna bite you, y'know.”

He gives you a funny look. “What??”

Rolling your eyes, you tug at their cloak. “Nevermind. Let's go feed the horses. I got snacks.”

“You got snacks for horses???” Frin raises his eyebrows at you.

“Horses like carrots, right? The Blind One had, like, so many carrots.”

It takes some gentle couragemint, but you manage to lure Frin around the mail person's cart. There are two fat ponies: one is a medium shade, with darkless markings above its feet, like socks, and the other is sorta light and spotty. The Spotty One tries to steal a snack from your pocket right away, but you dodge. They have to wait. 

You hand Frin a couple of the veggies, ‘cause they look like they need a horsey distraction. Then you reach out with your hand flat to offer a treat to the One with Socks, fingers stuck together to keep from getting bitten (like Nille showed you a long time ago – “Horses don't bite ‘cause they're mean,” she had said, “It's just real easy to confuse fingers with carrots.” )

Frowning, you ask Frin, “Why don't you like Euphrasie?” 

They startle, cheeks going dark. “Wh- what? I don't… I don't dislike Euphrasie??”

“Uh-huh. Suuuure.” The spotty pony seems to understand your sarcasm. It huffs in Frin's hair, like it’s laughing. 

Deflating like a sad balloon, Frin replies, “I– It isn't that I dislike her as... Y'know. A person. I barely know her. And Mira respects her a lot, so I should trust her!”

The pony with socks is drooling on your fingers. (Ew. Haha.) “But you don't like her?”

Frin gets a sad look in his eye. “She just reminds me of… Forever school stuff. She was there at the end of a lot of the loops. So when I see her, it feels, um. Weird.”

That makes sense. “So she was like one of your Forever School teachers? Or the principal?”

They puff out their cheeks and stare at the ponies. “Um… I guess???”

Giving them a skeptible look, you shrug. “Okay. Well, you don’t have to like her.”

He sighs loudly. “Thanks, Bonnie. I really needed your permission.” They’re obviously joking, but you get the sense that Frin is actually a little relieved. As he lets the pony eat from their hand, they glance at you and smile a little. (Mission accompliced.)

Za's voice carries over the yucky crunching and slobbering sounds the ponies are making as they chew their food. “Bonnie? Siffrin?” He peeks out from around the other side of the wagon. “Uh, I think the Head Housemaiden is done with her speech? For now? It looks like word got out about the Saviors leaving. There's, like, a whole crowd of people coming to see us off. D'you want to say hi or, uh, hide?”

Frin squeaks, dropping half a carrot. The pony doesn't let it hit the ground, though. It gives a grateful little whinny and chomps the rest. “Hide, yes, please, thank you Isa. Um.” Their eye darts around nervously.

“Get in the wagon, dummy. There's boxes and stuff.” You give them a little shove. “C'mon, you're like the hide-and-seek champion, Frin. You got this.”

They nod, but keep hesitating for some reason. Za leans down and laces his fingers together, making a little step for Frin with his hands. (Oh, right! They're still wobbly, they probably need help with climbing!) 

You offer a hand for Frin to hold while he gets into the wagon, too. Their cheeks get all dark, and they look away, but they mumble a thank-you as they clamber up and disappear behind a big pile of mail. 

(Have the letters you and Dile wrote to Nille gotten to Bambouche yet?) You wonder. (What if it gets lost? Or what if she unfreezes and goes looking for me before the letter can get to her? Or… What if she gets the letter and…)

Za knocks into you with his hip. “Do you want to go say goodbye, Bonbon?”

You look up at him, then back at the mail cart, thinking about it. “I guess so.” You said goodbye to a lot of people yesterday, but there was no rule against saying it twice, probably. 

Following him around the wagon, you're surprised to see how many people showed up while you and Frin were distracted. (Oh crab,. Za wasn’t exaggerbating! That is a big crowd. Are all of these people even from Dormont???) You give them all a wave. Then you notice the Blind One is there too, and he can’t see you, so you shout out to him, “Hi, Blind One! It’s me! I’m waving!”

“Oh! Well, thank you, little Savior!” He smiles widely in your direction.

“Bonnie! That’s?? Rude????” Belle covers her face with her hands. “I’m sorry, Uncle Jean!!! They can be a real handful.”

You gasp and point at him. “Wait!!! The Blind One is your uncle???? Since when?????” 

Belle playfully swats at your finger. The man laughs, then responds on her behalf. “Well, I guess it’s been about twenty-three years now.”

“You mean you’ve been her uncle THIS WHOLE CRABBIN’ TIME???”

“Language, Bonnie! Also, yes, Uncle Jean has been my uncle the whole time, and he has a name.” She huffs at you, cheeks puffed out like a chipmunk, but you can tell she’s not really angry. Belle’s eyes go all sparky when she’s actually mad.

Squinting up at her, you ask, “Really? What is it?” 

Both Za and the Blind One are laughing as Belle grabs your shoulders and gives you a little shake. “IT’S JEAN!!! You little– scamp!”

“Hehe. You almost said crab, didn’t’cha?” 

“Bonnieeeee!!!”

Uncle Jean laughs. “Oh, Baby Belle. You’re always so lively! My brave Savior girl! Oh, your dads are going to be so proud when they get the letter.”

With a gasp, Za claps his hands to his cheeks. “Baby Belle??? That’s so cuuuute!”   

“Wait a minute. BELLE HAS PARENTS???” Now you're just asking stupid questions for the bit, as Frin and Za say.

“She sure does! Oh, I wish they were here to see you! And to tell me how cute you look. I can't rely on anybody else in this town to do my sweet niece justice.” The Blind One sighs dramatically, and Belle rolls her eyes. 

“I bet Za can help you with that. He says cute stuff all the time.”

With a barking laugh, Za puts the back of his hand on his forehead, pretending to look betrayed. “Bonbon! I am very cool and normal!” Leaning in towards Uncle Jean conspirahorribly, he adds, “Mira is super cute, though. She's got those pinchable cheeks, and a fancy new bow, and her makeup is on point, and–”

“Stop making fun of meeee!” Belle sticks her tongue out at him. “Some day, Isabeau, I’ll get my revenge. I’m gonna find your baby pictures.” 

You don’t understand what’s so bad about that, but Za actually seems kinda nervous. (Hmm. He mentioned he Changed before, right? Maybe that’s why? …Babies are just babies, though. They all look like weird dumplings.)

You continue to tease Belle for a while, but then you get bored and wander off. Tuning the grown-ups out, your eyes scan the crowd. It looked like most of Dormont showed up to see you off! You didn’t see your friends, though– (Oh! Wait! Was that…?)

Jeanine, the Frog-Loving Kid, comes racing around the bend, hand in hand with… Somebody who was wearing a very familiar accessory on their head.

“Bonnieeee!”

“Paolo?!” Your jaw drops as he lifts the brim of the hat so you can see his face. “Where’d you get Frin’s hat????”

There's a nya and a thumping sound behind you. Turning around, you see that Frin knocked over some boxes on the wagon in surprise. He must have been listening.  You weren’t the only one who noticed the noise– half of Dormont is staring at him. Their face is dark with embarrassment. (Uh-oh, Cat Frin's blown their cover!) 

The Wizard-Loving Kid is too excited to be distracted, though.  “Jeanine found it!! In the river!!!! It was real wet and dirty but we cleaned it and dried it for you!!!!!”

“I was looking at frogs,” She squeaks, nodding enthusiastically. “And I saw it caught in the weeds. And! There was a big frog underneath it!”

Some adult who you never met before comes over to interrupt your conversation, making a stern face. “Paolo, aren’t you supposed to be grounded?”

Jeanine and Paolo both puffed up. It was Jeanine who squeaked, very bravely, “He’s helping me return something to the Saviors!! He’s doing community service!!!”

“Uh-huh. Suuure. Are your parents aware of this community service, buddy?”

Paolo hid underneath the enormous brim of the hat, looking very much like a mini Frin.

“Um. Hello,” On silent feet, the rogue had managed to sneak up behind you. “Yes, that. Is. My hat. Thank you! So much!!! For returning it!! What a good deed!!!” Their face was plastered with a slightly scary smile as they stared at the other adult. “The Saviors are in your debt, Paolo!!!!!”

Startled, the rude grown-up slowly backed away. “Ooookay. Well... You kids be good! Don’t get into any more trouble!”

Za followed close behind Frin. “Awww, they’re never trouble!” He grabbed you under his arm and ruffled your hair. 

You squirmed a little. “Zaaaa. Your armpit’s stinky.”

“What, already?” He gave himself a sniff. “Crab. Okay, yeah. Sorry, Bonbon.”

“I’ll survive, somehow,” you said, truthfully. “Anyway! Frin!!! Your hat’s back!!!!”

They blinked at Paolo, a grin slowly spreading across their face. “Well, he looks very haber- dashing in it.”

Za was the only person who laughed in response, but he did it loudly enough to cover up your groans. “HA! What a way to cap off our trip to Dormont!”

“I’m just brimming with gratitude,” Frin purred.

“Ughhhhh no more puns. Just take it,” Paolo grumbled, shoving the hat toward Frin.

They smile fondly (why do they look so sad, though?) as they take the ragged garment in their hands. “Thanks. Really. This, um… It means a lot to me.” He pets the wooly fabric gently, like it's a cat instead of a hat, and they're scared that it might run away if he moves too fast. (So, basically giving the hat the same treatment that you all give him.)

Eyeing him suspishiously, the Wizard-Loving Kid asked, “...Is it magic?”

Startled out of their thoughts, they answer, “Um! In a way, I guess it is? …Oh! But, um. Hold on. Wait. Just a minute?”

You all watch as Frin scrambled back into the wagon. Za looks at you, raising his eyebrows, and shrugs. “I, uh, guess I’m gonna go see what that’s about?” He gives Paolo and Jeanine a goofy wink. “Nice seeing you! Don’t forget to write!”

As Za turns to follow Frin, Jeanine is wringing her hands. “Um. Ciel, and Agathe, and Binta wanted to come say goodbye, too! But Ciel had tutoring, and Agathe and Binta gotta do extra chores because of the egg thing.”

“I actually am grounded,” Paolo whispers, elbowing you. “But it was super worth it. Did you get in trouble?”

“Naw. Frin made really bad jokes about it, though.”

He nods sagely. “That’s better than getting grounded. But not by much.”

“Uh-huh.”

Frin is gone for more than five minutes. When they return, they're sweating and wheezing a bit. “Um!!! Sorry, I… I kinda just… Threw my stuff in the bags. It took a while to find it. But. Here!!!!”

In his hands, he holds out… Another hat, the same style as his own. It has a cool pattern stitched along the brim, and it’s in better shape than his own. Less worn-out. 

Otherwise, it looks almost identical.

“I… Well. I found it. In an old room in the House? It, um…” They fidget. “That room had been locked for a long time. I doubt anybody’s gonna miss it, so… It’s… You can have it, Paolo. I think it maybe belonged to a… a real wizard?”

The Wizard-Loving Kid looks skeptical. “Really??? You… You’re sure you wanna keep the crabby one? And not the nice, shiny one?”

“I’m sure. I super duper promise.” They drop the hat on top of Paolo’s head. 

It’s way too big, so you can just barely see the kid's wide grin underneath it. “Thanks. You may not be a real wizard, but you’re a pretty cool grown-up.” 

“I’ll call that a win,” they murmur, smiling back at him.

Chapter Text

Traveling was way more fun when you were going towards Dormont. Probably because you were walking around and exploring and seeing new stuff all the time! And you were spending lots of time doing camp stuff, and cooking, and finding orbs, and when you weren’t busy, you were always thinking about recipes you could cook over a campfire that wouldn’t be crab, and also worrying about the King and the curse and Nille and stuff. Always tons of things to do! Yeah! 

Sitting in a cart with a bunch of letters and boxes would maybe be fun if the adults let you sneak a peek at any of it. Even Frin said no, though, because privacy.

…You know it's gonna take ages to get to Bambouche, but you ask anyway. “Are we there yet?”

“Boniface. It has been two hours since we left Dormont.”

Sighing, you fiddle with one of your shoelaces. “Sooo. That’s a no.”

Dile raises an eyebrow at you as she turns the page of her book. “Correct.”

“Uuuuuuuuuuuughhhhhhhh.”

Za gives you a sunny smile. “Bored already, Bonbon?” Of course he's perfectly happy, since Frin has fallen asleep on his lap. But his legs are gonna fall asleep soon, too, though. Hehe!

“I'm so crabbing bored, Za, I'm gonna die.”

“Oh no,” Belle squeaks, but you aren’t sure if she’s replying to your dramatic announcement, or if she just got to a really juicy bit in Handsome Young Men Falling Into Beautiful Heartbreaking Madness. 

“Well! We can't have that!!! Gotta get you back to your sister in one piece, Bon.” Yeah, you don't wanna see Nille try to suplex Za. That wouldn't go well for either of them, probably. “D'you want to–”

Nah, you want to see what Belle’s reading.

“Beeeeelle,” You tug at her skirt. “You should read to us.”

“WHA–” She jumps in surprise, and the book slips out of her hands, landing beside her on the floor of the cart. You see about a million rows of tiny writing, but there’s a drawing on one page! It shows an angry-looking pretty man in a weird outfit, and a sad-looking pretty man who isn’t wearing very much at all, and they’re fighting with SWORDS!!! That looks cool!!

Belle snaps the book shut before you can look closer, lifting it above her head and out of your reach. “BONNIE. It's!! A scary book!!! Not for kids!!!!”

You roll your eyes. “C’mon, I bet we’ve seen way scarier stuff in real life.”

“They have a point, Mirabelle.” To your surprise, Dile comes to your defense. (Yeah! Opposite Sides of the Age Specter Alliance!) “The kid’s already faced their biggest fear and vandalized him. I think they’re pretty well inoculated against horror, at this point.” 

Grumbling, you cross your arms in front of your chest. “The King’s not my biggest fear, though? He’s just a big mean stupid jerk, and now he’s frozen, so why would I be scared of him?”

“See? They’re unshakeable.” She waves a hand in your direction, and you sit up a little straighter.

Belle whines, clutching the book so tightly that her knuckles go light. “Madame!!!” 

The two of them have one of those weird, silent grown-up conversations. Belle wrinkles her nose and shakes her head, and Dile lifts an eyebrow and smirks. “Oh. Nevermind, then. I see how it is. Boniface, you’ll need to find some other means of entertainment.”

Grumbling, you cross your arms in front of your chest. That probably means it's scary, and also has grown-up romance stuff. You don't get why they think you're too young for that, either. It’s gross! But not any more gross than, like… farts. 

And even a story about farts would be more entertaining than just farting around in a cart all day.  

“Aww, Bonbon. We’ll take a break for lunch at the next relay station soon, and we can all stretch our legs, alright? How about we play a game in the meantime?”

Narrowing your eyes at him, you ask, “What kind of game?” 

He shrugs. “I dunno, we could do I Spy?”

You throw yourself dramatically over a crate. “Za, that is the most boring game in the world.”

“What? Noooo. I can think of way more boring games. Me and my siblings used to pretend to be statues. Whoever could hold still and be quiet for the longest would win.” 

“...That’s stupid, Za.” But now you’re curious. “What would you win???”

Za makes a face like he just ate something sour. “Peace and quiet, I guess?”

Wow. Boring and a bummer.

“C’mon, Bon. I spy with my little eye… Something that is… Darkless.”

“It’s either Frin’s clothes or one of these envelopes,” you sigh.

“...Okay, ya got me. How about… Um. I spy something… Like, egg-light?”

Groaning, you throw yourself dramatically over another crate. “What kind of egg, Za. There are light-light eggs and darker-light eggs and then you’ve got, like, speckled eggs, and–”

“Wow, okay, I forgot you were the egg -spert here.”

Belle and Dile both sigh, and you point at him accusingly. “BAD. And Frin’s not even awake to hear your stupid puns.”

“Nnnhgh. ‘M’awake,” Frin’s voice is muffled behind their cloak collar. “It w’za good one… Mmmp.” Yawning widely, he asked, “Are we there yet?”

Beaming, Za pats Frin’s head. “Nah, we’re just playing games. Oh! Don’t you have a deck of cards?”

“...Did I?” They sit up, twisting around until their spine makes a startling pop . (Gross!! Hehe.) 

“FRIN.” You kick at him. Not hard, though. Just giving his knee a little nudge with your foot. “You were just showing me card tricks the other day!”

“Was I…?” Blinking like a sleepy owl, he starts patting himself down, pulling junk out of his pockets. “It’s not in here… or here… Are you sure I had one, Bon?”

“YEAH!!! You did that thing! Where I picked a card, and you found it! Even after me and Za BOTH shuffled!” You know magic is just slight-off-hands and stuff, but it was pretty cool.

His lips curl up into a sneaky smile. “Hmm. No, actually, I think that was you.”

“...What.” (ARE YOU GETTING PRANKED???)

“Well, yeah, Bonnie. If I was the one doing card tricks, why would the deck be in your pocket?”

(!!!!!!!!)

(THE DECK IS IN YOUR POCKET?!?!??!?!)

(HOLY CRAB, IT IS!!!!!!!!!)

“FRIN. You gotta show me how you do that!!!!”

They stick their tongue out at you, wiggling their fingers. “Magic.”

“I'm not a baby, Frin, I know it's not actually magic!” With a wicked grin, you open the little cardboard box of cards and turn it upside down, spilling them all out across the floor of the cart. “We're playing fifty-two card pick-up until you tell me your secrets, you crab!!!”

You and Frin and Za take your time cleaning up the scattered cards. Tidying up is never as fun as making a mess, and it takes way longer, but you've got plenty of time to waste.

Frin seems to be in a better mood after his nap. He hasn't explained crab, but he keeps showing you new tricks.

“Is this your card?” They ask, picking a jack of spades up off the floor with a flourish.

“NO IT'S NOT, FRIN!!!!” But it is the fourth jack of spades he's found, and there's only supposed to be one. Za is very impressed. 

After you all finish putting the deck back together (triple-checking that it has the correct number of cards, with no repeats,) Za suggests a game of Go Fish. But you don't wanna play against Frin because they cheat, and Belle and Dile are both too busy with reading their stupid books. You can't play Go Fish with just two people.

Glaring at Belle, who is scanning another page of HYMFIBHM with wide, glistening eyes, you whine: “I don't see why you won't let me read grown-up books. I can handle scary stuff. And if it's romance stuff, that's whatever. I have to watch Za and Frin being gross all the time now, and nobody thinks it's weird.”

They both go dark. Frin hides under his newly-retrieved hat, while Za covers his face with his hands, sputtering. “Bonbon!!! That's!!!!! Um!!!!!”

Dile rolls her eyes. Book in hand, using her thumb to mark her place, she gestures at the blushing pair. “Boniface, what Siffrin and Isabeau have been getting up to is tame.” Za makes a weird little sound, but Dile silences him with a sharp look. “If you think they're being gross now, you're not ready to experience dark romance novels.”

Clearing his throat, Za adds, “Y-yeah, Bon, we're keeping it family-friendly!!! There's a whoooole ‘nother level.”

“C'mon!!! It's not like I've never seen people kissing before! Like in that play!”

From beneath their hat, you hear Frin snort. “Yeah, Bonbon. But have you seen people kissing with no paper in between?”

You gasp. “THERE WAS PAPER?!?!?! I KNEW IT!!!” Frin jumps, and you get a glimpse of his face. They look spooked. (Oops. Were you being too loud?) 

Slapping a hand over your loud mouth, you whisper, “Sorry!!!”

Their mouth opens and closes a few times, then they finally manage to squeak out, “N-no, it's! It's fine!!!”

You frown at him. They're being fidgety and weird, all of a sudden. They don't seem fine. 

Maybe they just need to pee really bad, though? “Frin. Do you need a bathroom break?”

He leans away from you, startled, their eye darting around nervously. “N-no???? I- I'm! I'm fine!!” 

Za offers them a hand. “Sif. Breathe?”

They do the breathing thing together. You do it, too, ‘cause you wanna help! In!! And!!! Out!!!!!

Frin gives you a wobbly smile. As they exhale, they say, “Sorry, Bonbon, it's a...” Another breath in, then out: “Forever school thing.”

You wrinkle your nose. “Wait. What does kissing have to do with that? Were you smooching at school? Ew!”

…Then they have a whole panic attack, and you feel really bad about it, and you say sorry a lot (even though you're not sure why they're so upset.)

Once they calm down, Frin tells you it's okay, like they always do... But at least they let you give them a hug this time, and it seems to help.

By the time you finally reach the relay station, you all need to use the bathroom. But there's only one bathroom, so you have to take turns. Your family lets you go first, ‘cause you're the youngest. According to Za, that means you have the smallest bladder.

When you're done, you wash your hands forrowly, just like Nille taught you. Then you go follow the mail carrier around while you wait for your family to finish doing their business.

The mail person is putting the ponies in the stable. They explain that they need to switch them out. The ponies that pulled the carriage all morning need some rest, and there's a new pair of ponies ready to continue the journey with you.

Since you're leaving the morning ponies behind, you reach into your satchel to grab more carrots. They worked hard, so they deserve a treat! And you grab some extras for the new ponies, too.

As you pull the veggies out of your snack pocket, you notice something else slip out of your bag. A little rectangle of stiff paper falls to the ground, landing beside your foot.

(A note?) You pick it up and take a peek. (Oh. It's not a note. Just another playing card.)

(Hmmm. You thought you got all of them back into the deck earlier, but maybe you missed one? You should return it to Frin later.)

(...Wait a second.)

(IT'S ANOTHER JACK OF SPADES???)

...You REALLY need to get Frin to show you how they do that.

After you say goodbyes to the morning ponies, you run off and find them in the courtyard outside the stable, doing some fizzical therapy stretches with Belle. You turn your back on them and reach down to touch your toes, peering at them upside-down from between your legs. “Frin.”

“Bonnie,” they reply, matching the urgency in your voice.

“Show me your tricks.”

“Oh? What tricks are you talking about, Bonbon?” They stand up, so you stand up, too. You have to spin around to face him again. 

…And they’re waving the jack of spades right in front of your face, looking smug. 

Mira is giggling.

(This is unacceptable!!!)

“...Frin. You can see me, right? So it’s okay if touch you, right?”

He tilts his head, squinting. You try to look innocent. 

“Um… Yyyyyes?”

You smile. “Okay! That’s good, because– RRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH TICKLE ATTACK!!!!!” Screaming, you launch yourself at their belly, wiggling your fingers. They try to backpedal, nearly bumping into Belle, but you take them down. 

“Bonnie!” Belle squeals. She sounds worried, but Frin is fighting back, and you need to focus on your counter-offensive.

Moments later, Za comes strolling around the corner of the building to find you engaged in a full-blown tickle war, with Belle fretting by the sidelines. He sighs fondly. “Never a dull moment on the road, huh?”

“No, I suppose not,” Belle mutters.

Za grabs you under your arms and lifts you out of the chaos, holding you up high above the battlefield. 

“I AM THE TICKLE WINNER!!!” You declare, punching the air.

“Nuh-uh. You are in air jail, Bonbon. There are no winners in air jail,” He huffs. “Be gentle! Frin is still recovering, remember? And, uh, tickling people without permission is not polite? In general?”

“Oh.” You stop flailing. “Crab. Sorry.” 

Frin is still lying on the ground, making no attempt to move, but he chuckles and gives you a little wave. “No harm done, Bonbon. It was fun.”

Za puts you down again, and you flop down next to Frin. “I am sorry, though. Really.” You see a pebble and flick at it with your finger. “Um… I’m just excited today. And maybe nervous. About going home. Nille always says I get ants in my pants when I’m nervous.”

“It’s okay, Bonnie.” Belle touches your shoulder. Your eyes start watering, so you hide your face in her skirt. “We’ll be with you the whole way.”

“Yeah!” Za gives Belle a side-hug and puts his other hand on your head. “It’s okay to have big feelings, Bonbon.”

Frin pokes your shoe and smiles.

…Then he winks.

Slowly, making sure you can see exactly what he’s doing, he pulls a jack of spades out of his sleeve.